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THE 
STORY of CALIFORNIA 

FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS 
TO THE PRESENT 



BY 

HENRY K. NORTON 




CHICAGO 

A. C. McCLURG & CO. 

1913 



Copyright 
A. C. McClurg & Co. 

I9 J 3 
Published July, 191 3 



W. F. HALL PRINTING COMPANY, CHICAGO 



(S)ni.A351 1 52 



TO MY WIFE 



PREFACE 



The present work is the result of an endeavor 
to bring within the limits of one volume the narra- 
tive of all the important events which make up 
the history of the state of California, in order that 
it may be available to the many who have not the 
time nor the inclination to read through the vast 
amount of print which contains the record 

H. K. N. 

Los Angeles, California. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

I California in 1540 

II Early Explorations, 1 542-1602 

III Occupation by the Spanish, 1769 

IV Junipero Serra, 17 13-1784 

V The Founding of the Missions 

VI The Presidios . ... 

VII The Pueblos .... 

VIII The Spanish Period, 1769-1822 

IX The Mission System 

X The Russians in California, 1812 

1841 

XI The Mexican Regime, 1822- 1847 

XII Secularization of the Missions 

XIII Life of the Californians 

XIV John A. Sutter .... 
XV The Coming of the Americans 

XVI Fremont — the Bear Flag — 1846 

XVII The American Conquest, 1846 

XVIII The Discovery of Gold, 1848 

XIX Forty-Nine 

XX The Establishment of a Govern 

ment 



PAGE 

I 

17 
27 
40 

48 

60 

65 

75 
87 

103 
in 
130 
144 

156 
164 

176 
189 
209 
216 

232 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

XXI The Struggle for Order . 

XXII The Civil War . . . 

XXIII The Pacific Railroad, 1869 

XXIV The Chinese .... 
XXV Kearney and Kearneyism 

XXVI The Constitution of 1879 
XXVII Political History Since 1879 
XXVIII The Development of Natural 
Resources ..... 
XXIX Social Progress .... 
XXX The Growth of the Cities 
APPENDIX 

Missions and Dates of Founding 
Mission Presidents 

Prefects 

Governors of California 
Governors of the State 
Population of the State by Dec- 
ades . 
INDEX 



PAGE 

243 

258 { 

268 

283 

297 
306 

318 

333 
345 
355 

375 
375 
376 
377 
378 

379 
38i 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



% PAGE 

" The Coming of Cabrillo " . . . . Frontispiece v 

Map of California made in 1 705 24 

Mission of Santa Barbara 58 

Spanish map of 1787 showing missions, presidios, 

and routes 80 

Plan of San Juan Capistrano mission . . . 100 

Monterey 156 

San Francisco in 1847 190 

Sutter's mill 210 

Map of 1849 showing overland routes . . . 218 

Mining scene 226 

Front Street, Sacramento, in 1850 .... 242 

Los Angeles in 1857 33^ 

San Francisco after the earthquake and fire of 1906 370 

Map 381 



The Story of 
California 



CHAPTER I 

CALIFORNIA IN 1540 

IN the year 1540 little was known of the newly 
discovered continent of America. Speculation 
took the place of accurate knowledge of facts. 
Mexico and Central America had been subjugated 
and to some extent explored, but the main body 
of the northern continent was almost wholly un- 
known. On the western slope of the vast moun- 
tain range which divides the continent, facing the 
great Pacific Ocean, what is now the state of Cali- 
fornia lay asleep while the country was inhabited 
by human beings low in the scale of mankind. 

The hills and valleys of California were more 
thickly peopled than was any other part of the 
continent. The number of Indians at that time 
living within the boundaries of the present state 
has been estimated at 700,000, but they were in 
the main only a mass of peoples ranging the 
country without center, and with little government 
or control. Except in the northern portion of 

1 



2 The Story of California 

the state, there were not even tribes in the ordi- 
nary meaning of the term. The family was the 
nearest approach to a social unit, and each family 
was for the most part wholly independent. Even 
language was no tie, for there were found among 
them many tongues and a confusion of dialects 
which set at defiance the efforts of the ethnologists. 
Around San Francisco Bay alone there were nine- 
teen languages in use. Nor did war bring the peo- 
ple into contact with each other to any extent, for 
war was by most of them sedulously avoided. 

It is strange and so far inexplicable that there 
should be found here, surrounded by peoples in 
a much higher position in the human scale, a race 
so little above the brutes. On the north were 
numerous tribes of hunters and traders; to the 
east were peoples who, because of their activity 
and courage, have won from the white man the 
appellation of " the noble savage ; " southeast of 
them the beginnings of a crude civilization had 
been made; and to the south lived a race which 
had established a civilization which had made 
considerable progress. Yet here on the shores of 
the Pacific, in what was apparently the most fa- 
vored situation of all, there was a people with 
little coherence, organization, or religion. 

The California Indians, or Diggers,* are not 
susceptible of division into tribes for separate de- 

*The name "Digger" was a merited term of reproach 
given these Indians because of their habit of digging for roots, 
which formed one of the principal articles of their diet. 



California in 1540 3 

scription. Their general characteristics were much 
the same all over the territory if some broad dis- 
tinctions are borne in mind. There was a small 
district at the northern end of the state which 
was inhabited by people who were of a higher 
type than those of the remaining districts and who 
were more closely allied to the Oregonians than 
to the Californians proper. The principal tribes 
of this region were the Klamaths, Modocs, and 
Shastas. South of these, occupying the central 
portion of the state as far south as Point Con- 
ception, was another group, the lowest of all, of 
which the Tehamas, Ukiahs, and Petalumas were 
principal divisions. While these names may be 
correctly applied to certain districts, they repre- 
sent no unity of government. The people of this 
group were spread over the country in innumerable 
rancherias or villages. The remaining part of 
the state was inhabited by a third group, more 
highly developed than the second though, with 
two exceptions, inferior to the northern group. 
These exceptions were the Yumas, who lived in 
the extreme southeastern corner, and the natives 
of the Santa Barbara Channel and its islands. In 
general, these divisions are really more geographi- 
cal than ethnological. 

The men of the north were tall, muscular, and 
well made ; the women shorter and of good form 
and feature, some even being described as beauti- 
ful in the Caucasian sense of the word. Their 



4 The Story of California 

color was a light brown and their hair black and 
straight. The central group were very tall but 
ill formed, black in color, and of ugly features. 
The southerners, on the contrary, were of aver- 
age height or perhaps slightly undersized, well 
formed, light in color and of good features. The 
islanders, who constituted but a very small part 
of the total, were of light complexion with fair 
hair. 

The hair was usually worn in a queue, but 
occasionally loose and flowing. Often it was 
adorned with oak leaves, feathers, or squirrel 
tails. The men had no beards. Climate was a 
much more important factor in their dress than 
was modesty, the men as a rule finding a belt suf- 
ficient covering in warm weather, though a breech- 
clout was sometimes worn. The women wore an 
apron of braided grass which hung down both 
front and back. In cold weather a favorite dress 
was a thick coat of mud covering the whole body. 
This garment had the advantage of being easily 
handled and readily repaired, and it served as 
an excellent protection against the cold. In the 
severest weather a half-tanned deerskin was 
wrapped closely around the body as an additional 
shelter. 

Tattooing to a slight extent was almost uni- 
versal among the women, the principal markings 
being three vertical bands on the chin. These 
were widened as the lady advanced in social posi- 



California in 1540 5 

tion, the width being also in proportion to the 
age. In some of the tribes the men decorated 
their bodies on certain occasions with broad bands 
of color. This custom was more prevalent in the 
south than in the north. A very curious custom 
which prevailed in this latter portion of the state 
was that of grinding the teeth down to the level 
of the gums. The process by which this result 
was obtained is as much a mystery as is the reason 
for doing it. 

The dwelling houses of these strange people 
were much the same throughout the state. The 
first step in their construction was the digging 
of a hole two to five feet in depth and from 
ten to thirty feet in diameter, according to the 
size of the family whose home it was to be. 
Around this excavation long poles were sunk into 
the ground, and after they were firmly fixed were 
drawn together at the top until they left an open- 
ing something more than a foot wide. This hole 
served in the double capacity of door and chimney. 
The frame thus constructed was plastered with 
mud several inches thick. Two notched poles by 
which the door was reached, one inside and one 
out, completed the erection of the house. Thus 
completed and dignified by the name wikiup the 
dwelling was ready for occupancy. In addition 
to this type of house the Indians of the Channel 
and the Islands used larger structures thatched 
with tule for council lodges. The only other 



6 The Story of California 

edifices of any kind known to the California abo- 
rigines were the temescal and the very rare temple, 
both of which are described on another page. 

In pursuing game, the native of California pre- 
ferred the snare and pitfall to the bow and arrow. 
The weapon required active hunting; the traps 
could be constructed when the spirit moved and 
left to do their work while the owner idled. Deer 
and small game were the only objects of the 
hunter's feeble efforts. The grizzly bear was left 
religiously alone as the Indians, with good reason, 
were superstitious about interfering with him. 

Fishing was more to their taste than hunting. 
Spearing was the favorite method, and this was 
often facilitated by the construction of a dam 
in which were small openings through which the 
fish passed on their way up the stream. A single 
watcher at one of these holes could secure a 
large number of fish in an hour. Another method 
was fishing from a platform built over the lake 
or stream on which the native could rest or sleep 
until his fish was hooked. 

Among the northern Indians and those along 
the coast, fish was the principal article of food. 
It was eaten raw or nearly so during the sum- 
mer, and large quantities were dried and smoked 
for winter use. Other staple foodstuffs were 
acorns, roots, berries, and seeds. All these were 
natural products, and there is no record of any 
instance of the aborigines tilling the soil or mak- 



California in 154-0 7 

ing any effort to stimulate its production. A flour 
was ground from acorns, and from this a crude 
bread was made which was often flavored with 
berries. To this frugal menu the more epicurean 
inhabitant of the central portion of the state 
added reptiles and insects. Grasshoppers were 
a delicacy and there was great rejoicing when a 
dead whale was washed ashore. The southern 
Indian displayed even a greater catholicity of 
taste in the viands which supplied his board. Coy- 
otes, skunks, rats, crows, lizards and snakes, as 
well as grasshoppers and other insects, were on 
his table. 

The food was largely gathered as well as pre- 
pared by the women, who were the servile drudges 
of the families, and who were also the artisans, 
their skill in weaving grasses and tules and in 
tanning deerskin being remarkable. These two 
simple industries provided all the household ne- 
cessities other than food, for all the clothing and 
household furniture including kitchen equipment 
were made of skins or woven grasses. The num- 
ber of wives a man had therefore was the measure 
of his wealth. Polygamy was universal in the 
north. 

Marriage was a matter of business: wives were 
purchased from their fathers, and their social 
position was determined by the price which was 
paid for them. Even after marriage, they were 
bought and sold like any other commodity with 



8 The Story of California 

the result that the old and wealthy men had a 
monopoly of the youth and beauty. Among the 
tribes of the central region the wishes of the 
bride were consulted to some extent. They also 
had a peculiar custom regarding the bride's fam- 
ily. When a man married he married all the 
sisters of his bride, and if her mother was un- 
attached he married her too. There was no 
ceremony of marriage nor of divorce in this part 
of the state. In the south, the chief only was 
allowed more than one wife. Here several forms 
of marriage ceremony prevailed, all of which were 
extremely simple. In that most often used the 
bride was carried by her father to the house of 
the groom and left by his side. Divorce was a 
mere matter of separation, as in the north. 

The children of the tribe were nominally un- 
der the control of the chief. Privation and absti- 
nence were the principal lessons sought to be in- 
culcated, but no rigid discipline was enforced, and 
usually the teacher employed was experience. 

The aged of both sexes were despised and fre- 
quently put to death with scant ceremony, this 
treatment of their elders being more frequently 
met with among the peoples in the lower part of 
the state than in the north. 

Slavery existed to some extent among the north- 
ern tribes but was rarely met with elsewhere. Here 
illegitimate children were always sold as slaves and 



California in 1540 9 

it was frequently difficult to distinguish between 
the status of a wife and that of a female slave. 

A wide difference was noted among the peoples 
of the various sections as regards the leadership. 
In the north the wealthiest man was most power- 
ful and hereditary succession was unknown. In 
the central portion hereditary succession was the 
rule, though frequently disregarded. In the south, 
on the other hand, custom required a rigid ad- 
herence to the direct line and in default of a male 
heir the headship could be held by a female. At 
the time of which we write one of the largest 
rancherias of the Santa Barbara Channel was 
ruled by a woman. In one particular, the chief- 
taincy, as far as it could be called such, in all the 
districts was the same; it represented very little 
power, and received little respect. The heads of 
the various families were the real rulers and were 
practically independent. 

With so little central authority such laws as 
obtained were bound to be very laxly enforced. 
In the north a murderer atoned for his act by the 
payment to the family of his victim of a small 
sum in beads or shells. Half the amount neces- 
sary for the killing of a man sufficed in the case 
of woman. Occasionally a murderer was ban- 
ished if his crimes became frequent, but capital 
punishment was never resorted to. In the south 
greater strictness was observed. There a mur- 
derer's life was forfeited to the relatives of the 



10 The Story of California 

deceased unless he could reach a temple. In that 
event we find a curious analogy to the old me- 
dieval right of sanctuary, for there his life was 
sacred and his punishment was left to the god. 
His immunity was strictly observed, unless he 
was so rash as to stray from the charmed place 
in search of food, as in the absence of any in the 
temple he was apt to do. It was then thought 
that he had escaped from the wrath of the god 
and the relatives of the dead man if they chanced 
to find him promptly killed him. 

After sleeping and eating, the principal amuse- 
ment of this primitive people was gambling, and 
there was nothing at which they would stop in 
placing stakes. Dancing was another popular 
amusement, and both sexes indulged. Their fes- 
tivals began with dancing and speechmaking and 
ended in the wildest debauches. 

Everywhere the most prominent characteristic 
was laziness. Marked as were the northerners in 
this respect their brethren of the central regions 
far surpassed them. The extent of the laziness 
of these men is shown in their aversion even to such 
occupations as hunting and fishing. Fighting was 
avoided whenever possible. 

Naturally filthiness reigned supreme in the Cali- 
fornia rancherias. Both the dwellings and the per- 
sons of their inhabitants abounded in vermin. 
When the collection of refuse and offal in their 
lodges became so great that they could no longer 



California in 1540 11 

bear it, the lodge was filled with dry sticks and 
burned to the ground. Another was then built; 
often on the same spot. 

The ravages of disease were most severe; 
scrofula, consumption and eye diseases caused by 
the smoky lodges being the principal afflictions. 
Among the northern Indians many of the physi- 
cians were women. Their method of treatment 
consisted in wild incantations and sucking of the 
afflicted part. In the central and southern por- 
tions of the state, however, women were not al- 
lowed to act as physicians, and there the medicine 
men exercised a tremendous influence. In the 
central districts they labored under one disad- 
vantage ; they were supposed to have the power of 
life and death over their patients, and if one of 
the latter died his relatives frequently killed the 
physician. Under these conditions the fees 
charged for medical attention were enormous. In 
the south the medicine man was more secure, for 
there if his patient died it was attributed to the 
just vengeance of the god. 

The principal cure for all diseases, and a course 
of treatment which seems to have been resorted 
to even when there was no disease present, was 
that of the temescal or sweathouse. This was 
the largest structure in the village and was devoid 
of opening except for a small hole near the ground 
which was used as an entrance. In the center of 
this edifice a fire was built and here congregated 



12 The Story of California 

as many of the men as could work their way into 
the interior. They remained until human endur- 
ance could no longer stand the strain, when they 
bolted out, and straightway plunged into the 
nearby stream. No women except those who had 
qualified as physicians were allowed to enter the 
temescal. 

In the upper part of the territory, the bodies 
of the dead were buried in a manner similar to 
that in common use with us at the present time, 
except that the corpse was often placed in a sit- 
ting instead of a recumbent position. In the 
southern portion of the state, however, the dead 
were cremated with all their possessions.* 

Shells formed the principal medium of exchange 
among this primitive people. The higher de- 
nominations of currency were supplied by scalps 
of the redheaded woodpecker and by white deer- 
skins. These latter were exceedingly rare, and to 
possess one was a mark of great wealth. 

Most of the northern Indians lived on or near 
a body of water, but they displayed little skill in 
the construction of water-craft. While crude dug- 
outs were occasionally met with, the almost uni- 
versal type of boat used in this region consisted 
of tules securely bound together. Astride of this 

* The men were buried in one cemetery, the women in 
another. A painted pole was placed over each grave. The 
hair of a man was placed above his grave while the poles 
which marked the graves of the women were surmounted by 
grass baskets. 



California in 1540 13 

the boatman took his seat, sinking it below the 
surface and propelling it by kicking his feet. But 
little progress was made in seamanship. Even the 
natives around the beautiful bay of San Francisco 
had nothing better in the way of boats than the 
tule rafts above described. Far more advanced in 
the art of boat-building than their northern neigh- 
bors were the Channel Indians, among whom 
wooden canoes were common. They were con- 
structed of long planks neatly fastened together, 
were high at the bow and stern, and in some in- 
stances as much as twenty-four feet long with a 
carrying capacity of ten or twelve men each. 

Basket weaving and deerskin tanning were al- 
most the only manufacturing industries and these 
were wholly in the hands of the women.* The 
southern group added to these the making of fish- 
hooks, needles of bone, and cooking utensils of 
soapstone. 

The California Indian, except in the extreme 
south, was not at all of a warlike disposition. He 
fought only in three contingencies — when his 
neighbors stole his women, when they launched 
against him wicked sorceries, and when they 
dammed up the stream below him so the fish could 
not come up as far as his village. For these griev- 
ances he would fight. Ordinarily the men of the 

* Their skill in the former art is well exemplified by the 
fact that the baskets were frequently made so perfectly as 
to be impervious to water. 



14 The Story of California 

tribe spread out in a long single line facing the 
enemy and pierced the air with demoniac yells 
until they had frightened their opponents to their 
own satisfaction. Occasionally real blows were 
exchanged and bloodshed ensued, but this was 
avoided whenever possible. In the south the 
slightest pretext was used as an excuse for attack- 
ing a weaker tribe for purposes of plunder. In 
the central portion of the state war was entered 
upon with considerable formality. By means of 
heralds a challenge was sent to the enemy. If 
it was accepted, the time and place of the battle 
were carefully agreed upon and the combat al- 
ways took place as arranged, the warriors exhibit- 
ing a comparatively high degree of courage and 
meeting death or torture with true Indian stoicism. 
While the bow and arrow was their usual 
weapon in warfare, they resorted often to the 
strategy of man-traps. Across a forest path deep 
holes were made with the bottom much wider 
than the top to prevent escape. The opening was 
then concealed by means of sticks and mud. The 
initiated were warned by the position of certain 
nearby stones but the enemy was easily deceived. 
Once in the trap he could be killed at leisure — 
provided he escaped falling on the sharpened 
elk-horns which had been placed directly below 
the opening. To these means of disposing of 
their enemies the central and southern Indians 
added spearing and sometimes clubbing. They 



California in 1540 15 

also had a weapon shaped like a scimeter and 
edged with sharp pieces of flint or obsidian. 

Quarter was seldom asked or given, and if it 
was extended it was only for the purpose of sub- 
jecting the captured enemy to the most cruel and 
excruciating tortures before an end was made 
of him. The dead were sometimes scalped but 
more commonly decapitated. Severed hands and 
feet were favorite trophies and evidences of 
prowess, and in a few districts the eyes of the 
slain were also plucked out and preserved. The 
flesh of a vanquished hero of renown was fre- 
quently eaten; but not as food, as is ordinarily 
the case with cannibals. It was thought that by 
consuming the flesh of the deceased some part 
of his strong qualities would be incorporated into 
the character of the eater. 

It was only among the southern peoples that 
anything was found sufficiently tangible and or- 
ganized to be designated as religion. The Chan- 
nel peoples had for their god Chinigchinick, whose 
temple, an oval enclosure about fifteen feet across, 
was in the center of the village. At one end of 
this was erected a second enclosure of mats and at 
the other end a third of small stakes. In this 
space, on a hurdle, was seated the image of the 
god, who there received the homage of his wor- 
shippers and enjoyed in silence the sacrifices of 
birds which they offered. These people had a 
vague belief in a future existence, the joys of 



16 The Story of California 

which were pictured in a manner very similar to 
those of the Scandinavian Valhalla. This belief 
probably was the source of a strange collection of 
puerile and obscene legends, which apparently 
formed much of the mental life of these abori- 
gines. 



CHAPTER II 

EARLY EXPLORATIONS — 1542-1602 

ON a sunny day in the fall of 1542 a young 
man of these Indian peoples might have been 
seen looking for stray grasshoppers on the great 
headland which forms the sea wall of what is now 
San Diego Bay. He stopped a moment in his 
search and gazed seaward, and to his astonish- 
ment saw far away on the horizon white specks 
the like of which he had never seen before. He 
called his brothers and they too stood in awe. 
All the day they watched as the white spots grew 
larger and nearer until finally they perceived them 
to be great canoes, far larger than any they had 
ever seen before, and filled with strange beings 
whom they took to be gods. 

September 28, 1542, these huge canoes came 
to anchor in their bay and many of the strangers 
came ashore. The young man and his brothers 
were inclined to be friendly and offered food to 
the new comers. They recalled strange tales they 
had heard from other Indians of beings like these 
with beards, clothes, and armor, armed with cross- 
bows and mounted on horses. 

The leader of this little company of Spanish 

17 



18 The Story of California 

adventurers was Juan Rodriquez Cabrill^^Jehad 
been despatched by Hernando Cortes, Conquista- 
dor and Gubernador of Mexico, to find the Strait 
of Anian or follow the shore along to India. /For 
Cortes had been informed that the American were 
a group of islands stretching along the coast of 
Asia, and that his own Mexico was either a pro- 
jection from this latter continent itself or was 
separated therefrom by the long sought Strait of 
Anian or Northwest Passage. He had heard of 
Magellan's feat in finding one opening through 
this chain of islands when he discovered in 1520 
the straits that bear his name. This stimulated 
Cortes to an enthusiastic effort to discover the 
northern passage, and thus add to his already 
great fame as an explorer. 

Cabrillo had set sail from Navidad in Mexico 
with two small vessels, the San Salvador and the 
Victoria, on June 27, 1542. After a toilsome 
journey of three months he covered a distance 
which would be made now in a few weeks by even 
small sailboats and came as we have seen, under 
.the astonished gaze of the Calif ornians*/ 

He exchanged gifts with the friendl/ natives 
at San Miguel, as he called San Diego Bay, and 
then sailed away again to carry out the orders 
of his superior. He reached Santa Catalina on 
October 6, and spent a few days in its excellent 
harbor to repair his ships. He then sailed across 
to San Pedro and from there went on up the 



Early Explorations 19 

coast stopping on October 9 at the great village 
of the Channel Indians, El Pueblo de las Canoas, 
near the site of the present Buenaventura. The 
natives called the town Xuen and bestowed the 
name Taquimine on the voyagers. It took nearly 
five weeks more to reach the bay of Monterey 
which they entered on November 15. As they 
made their way along the coast they knew by 
the " great signal smokes kindled on shore " that 
they were watched closely by the natives. No- 
where, however, did they encounter any hostile 
demonstration, but always the friendliest treat- 
ment at the hands of the aborigines. 

From Monterey Cabrillo sailed on but the se- 
vere cold of the oncoming winter drove him back 
to the Santa Barbara Islands, where he died on 
January 3, 1543, from the effects of a broken 
shoulder suffered some months before. Travel- 
ing by sea was a hazardous undertaking for a 
sound man in those days, when the wretched food 
and water were so bad as hardly to sustain life, 
and scurvy was almost inevitable. The hardy ex- 
plorer, under the added burden of a broken 
shoulder, was unable to maintain the struggle 
longer and succumbed. He was buried on one of 
the islands of the Channel; which one we are not 
sure. 

)(So rests in an unknown grave the discoverer of 
California. For Cabrillo was undoubtedly the 
first white man to set foot upon its soil. < Three 



20 The Story of California 

years previous to his arrival, Francisco de Ulloa 
sailed to the head of the Gulf of California and 
if he happened to have been there on a clear day, 
could have seen her mountains far to the north. 
The next year Hernando de Alarcon explored 
the Colorado River to its junction with the Gila 
and unquestionably came within sight of the pres- 
ent California. Again later in the same year, 
Melchior Diaz, traveling by land, crossed the 
Colorado at a point sufficiently far to the north 
so that he must have been within sight of her 
hills. But though these men were brave ex- 
plorers and performed well the work allotted to 
them, to Cabrillo must remain the honor of be- 
ing the first actually to reach and set foot within 
the borders of the present state. 

After his captain's death, Bartolome Ferrelo, 
the second in command, resolved to continue the 
expedition and carry out the instructions of the 
Gubernador. He sailed as far north as what 
is now the Oregon line, skirting the coast closely 
but missing: the entrance to San Francisco Bay. 
\ This was as far as the present expedition was' 
able to proceed and it returned to Mexico with- 
out accomplishing either of its objects, the dis- 
covery of the Strait of Anian or of the coast 
of India. 

The old men who had welcomed Cabrillo had 
died, and the young men grown old before 
the news was brought to them of another sail on 



Early Explorations 21 

the horizon. Those that remained went out 
on the point again day after day and watched 
it, but instead of coming to the harbor it passed by 
far out at sea and faded into the mists of the 
north. The year was 1579 and the ship they saw 
was the Golden Hind in which the English- 
man Francis Drake was scouring the seven seas 
and availing himself of every chance to plunder 
Spanish ships. He too was searching for Anian. 

Drake followed Ferrelo's course as far north 
as Cape Mendocino but was turned back by the 
same difficulties which had baffled his predecessor 
— cold and stormy weather. He entered a bay 
somewhere in the region of San Francisco and for 
years it was supposed that he had really made 
that harbor. But it is now generally conceded 
that this was an error and that the bay in which 
he wintered was what is now known as Sir Francis 
Drake Bay about thirty miles north of San Fran- 
cisco. Some writers contend that it was neither of 
these but Bodega Bay still farther to the north. 
Wherever it was, he .landed, and named the en- 
tire country " New Albion," taking possession in 
the name of his royal sovereign, Queen Elizabeth. 

Five years more elapsed and again the Indians 
were called forth from their lodges to see the 
white man's sail. This time it came from 
the other direction but did not touch the coast of 
their country at all. It was a Spanish galleon un- 
der Francisco Gali on its way from the far off 



22 The Story of California 

Philippine Islands, and nearing the coast of Cali- 
fornia at Cape Mendocino, was working its way 
southward to Mexico, her commander keeping 
her as close to the shore line as he dared. 

Of the natives who had received Cabrillo, prob- 
ably all had passed on to their Indian Valhalla 
before another sail showed its gleam off the Cali- 
fornia coast. Eleven years later, in 1595, an- 
other Philippine vessel, the San Agnstin, under Se- 
bastian Rodriguez de Carmenon, appeared and, 
more unfortunate than her predecessor, ran 
aground at Point Reyes. She lost a part of her 
cargo before freeing herself but beyond this noth- 
ing is known of her voyage. There is something 
pathetic in the sight of these proud, high-pooped 
galleons, majestically struggling with the might 
of the waters, making headway only by dint of 
infinite toil, reeking with scurvy, and heavily laden 
with the rich wares of the Orient which in far 
away Spain they would offer in exchange for 
gold, passing by the shores of California, where 
lay the glittering object of their search in quan- 
tities immeasurable. 

A few years after the San Agustin's mishap, 
Philip III, the new King of Spain, issued his man- 
date that the entire coast of California be care- 
fully searched for harbors suitable for the ves- 
sels of this now fast increasing Philippine trade. 
To perform this service, Don Sebastian Vizcaino 
was despatched from Acapulco, on May 5, 1602. 



Early Explorations 23 

He followed very much the itinerary of Cabrillo 
but it nowhere appears that he knew of the pre- 
vious voyage of that navigator. He touched at 
San Diego, Avalon, San Pedro and Monterey; 
and named the Coronado Islands, Santa Catalina 
and San Clemente. Vizcaino accomplished no 
more in the actual acquisition of information than 
Cabrillo, but his voyage was of more permanent 
value because a careful and detailed record was 
kept. 

In spite of the eagerness of Philip to find har- 
bors on the coast of California, nothing whatever 
was done to follow up the work of Vizcaino. For 
1 66 years no Spanish vessel touched this coast. 
During this period there was a curious stagnation 
in New Spain due to the rapidly waning power 
of the mother country which had shrunk to a 
shadow of its former greatness. California 
slumbered; its people dozing through an indolent 
existence, undisturbed by any untoward event, 
while the memory of the visits of Cabrillo, Drake 
and Vizcaino faded into vague traditions which 
were given new life and currency from generation 
to generation by the infrequent appearance of the 
sail of a Philippine galleon that had run out of 
its course. 

It is interesting to note here the almost end- 
less discussion which has taken place as to the 
origin of the name California. Most school chil- 
dren are familiar with its alleged formation, from 



24 The Story of California 

two Spanish or Latin words meaning " hot fur- 
nace "; but unfortunately for the theory that this 
is the true derivation, it must be remembered that 
to the early Spaniards who first used the name in 
connection with the country, California was not a 
hot country but, in comparison with those through 
which they had come to reach it, a cold one. 
While we frequently read in the accounts of early 
travelers of their suffering from the cold, we 
never find any allusion to the heat. 

The name first appears in the written records 
as applied to Lower (Baja) California in Pre- 
ciado's diary of Ulloa's trip down the coast of 
that peninsula in 1539. But it is used there as 
if it were already in common use and it is prob- 
able that it was first given to this country by Cortes 
or some of his followers either at Santa Cruz or 
La Paz between 1535 and 1537. The Conquista- 
dor and his men were unquestionably acquainted 
with Las Sergas de Esplandian, a novel written by 
Ordonez de Montalvo, the translator of Amadis 
of Gaul, and purporting to be the recital of the 
adventures of the son of Amadis. This book 
was extremely popular in Spain just previous to 
this time, running through five Spanish editions be- 
tween 15 10 and 1526. In the course of this 
story a mythical " California " is described, an 
island " on the right hand of the Indies, very close 
to the terrestrial Paradise." It is peopled by 
black women of the nature of Amazons. Their 




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Early Explorations 25 

island is the strongest in the world; their arms 
of gold; wild beasts and griffins they have tamed 
to serve for horses. There is no metal but gold 
in their whole wonderful island.* 

Surely this fabled land " close to the terrestrial 
Paradise " resembled little enough the barren 
waste of Lower California at the time of the ar- 
rival of the Spaniards. How then came the name 
of this country of many blessings to be bestowed 
on this unpromising land? To assist in answering 
this question, mention must be made of another 
of the theories of derivation — that the name 
California was a corruption of an Indian name for 
the whole country or a part of it. It seems that 
there was a portion of the country which in one 
of the innumerable dialects bore a name which 
sounds very like " California." It is possible then 
that these rough adventurers landing in this coun- 
try whose landscape as far as the eye could see 
was naught but stones and desert brush, and put- 
ting a question to a few terrified natives received 
this name for answer. And that one of these sol- 
diers, perhaps with a well worn copy of the Sergas 
in his pocket, boisterously seized upon the resem- 
blance of words and with broad sarcasm pointed 
out to his companions this sorry waste as the fabled 

* For the rediscovery of this long-forgotten novel, and 
the consequent answer to the much mooted question of the 
derivation of the name of their state, the people of California 
are indebted to Edward Everett Hale. 



26 The Story of California 

" California. ,, That the name came to us from 
the Sergas is quite probable, but the precise man- 
ner in which it came to be applied to the parts of 
our country which now bear it, must always re- 
main a matter of conjecture. 



CHAPTER III 

OCCUPATION BY THE SPANISH 1 769 

'"THE humble race of Californians, or at least 
* that portion living about the Bay of San 
Diego, was again awakened from its long undis- 
turbed lethargy by the appearance on April 11, 
1769, of another vessel. This time it was the San 
Antonio, under the command of Juan Perez, a 
Majorcan who had been in command of a Manila 
galleon. ... He brought his ship to anchor in the 
bay, and on that day the first European settlers 
landed who came to make a permanent home in 
California. ./ 

To understand the origin of this expedition it 
is necessary for us to go back a little in time and 
many miles to the southward in distance. Dur- 
ing the century and a half which had passed so 
quietly for California of the north, the Spaniards 
had been colonizing, improving, and organizing 
all parts of Mexico. One feature of this progress 
was the establishment of numerous missions for 
the conversion and education of the natives. Two 
large Catholic orders, the Jesuits and the Fran- 
ciscans, had taken charge of this work. The lat- 
ter had several missions on the mainland while 
the former had established a chain of these relig- 

27 




28 The Story of California 

ious and educational institutions along the penin- 
sula of Baja or Lower California. 

In the year 1767 the growing agitation in 
Europe for the overthrow of the Jesuit order re- 
sulted in the king of Spain sending instructions 
to the Mexican authorities to sequester the hold- 
ings of this order in the peninsula and turn them 
over bodily to the Franciscans, who were thought 
to be more tractable and obedient to the civil 
authority. 

The Order of Saint Francis, as the Franciscans 
were officially designated, was founded by Francis 
of Assisi at the beginning of the thirteenth cen- 
tury. In 1 2 10 he had eleven followers and drew 
up a set of rules for their guidance. After much 
hesitation Pope Innocent III approved the order 
later in the same year. Nine years later the first 
general assembly was held and over five thousand 
members attended. The Franciscans were sworn 
to various forms of the strictest self-denial which 
they carried to the point of asceticism. They were 
mendicants, it being contrary to the rules of their 
order for them to own property either individ- 
ually or as a body. Their main work was prosely- 
ting, and this was carried on not only among the 
unreligious in Europe but the utmost zeal was 
exhibited in preaching the message of the church 
to the heathen in the remotest corners of the 



earth.NL 
ley W( 



They were men of this type who had succeeded 



/ 



Occupation by the Spanish 29 

to the work of the missions of Baja California 
and also to the plans of Father Kino, one of the 
greatest of their Jesuit predecessors, to extend the 
mission chain as far north as Cape Mendocino. 
Toward the realization of this great dream, Kino 
had never been able to make even the first step. 
The Franciscans were more fortunate. The year 
after the Jesuits were ousted, the Spanish govern- 
ment, fearing the occupation of this northern coun- 
try by the Russians who were working their way 
across Bering Strait and down the coast of North 
America, ordered the occupation of Alta Cali- 
fornia. 

This occupation was to be threefold in char- 
acter — religious, military, and civil. The agency 
of the religious invasion was the mission; that of 
the military, the presidio; that of the civil, the 
v pueblo.VT£o the great good fortune of California 
the execution of this plan was intrusted to Jose de 
Galvez, the Royal Visitador of Mexico, who, 
though he never set foot on California soil, might 
be. called one of the greatest of her pioneers^/ He 
entered into the plans for the preparation 01 "ttie 
expedition with the warmest enthusiasm, watched 
over all its details personally, and to him is due in 
greatest measure the credit for its success. 

The expedition was to travel to the new coun- 
try in four divisions, two by land and two by sea. 
Gaspar de Portola was placed in command as mili- 
tary and civil governor, and Junipero Serra as 



80 The Story of California 

Father-President of the Franciscans. All of the 
missions of Lower California were called upon to 
contribute their proportion of supplies and equip- 
ment for the new establishments. These included 
besides the vestments and church furnishings for 
two mission churches, 200 cattle, 140 horses, 
forty-six mules and two asses. 

The first of the four divisions to arrive was 
the party in the ship San Antonio. She had left 
San Lucas, the point of departure for the sea ex- 
peditions, in February, 1769, after solemn re- 
ligious services and a parting address from the 
Visitador. On board were the friars Juan Viz- 
caino and Francisco Gomez, a few carpenters and 
blacksmiths, and a miscellaneous cargo of sup- 
plies. The voyage to San Diego consumed only 
a few weeks and was in other respects accom- 
panied by good fortune. The San Antonio sailed 
by San Diego without her captain knowing it and 
went as far north as the Santa Barbara Islands 
before the mistake was discovered. The return 
to San Diego was made without mishap. The 
expedition was kindly received by the natives. 

The San Carlos bearing the second sea division, 
though she left San Lucas several weeks before 
her consort, did not have the same good fortune 
and was no days making the trip. She arrived 
eighteen days after the San Antonio. The con- 
dition of those on board was pitiful. Watercasks 
had leaked, the remaining water spoiled and 



Occupation by the Spanish 31 

made easy the course of the scurvy which worked 
sad havoc among the members of the crew. With- 
in a few days after her arrival over two-thirds of 
her company who had left San Lucas had per- 
ished from disease. 

Her commander, Vicente Vilas, had been given 
written orders to establish the Catholic faith, ex- 
tend the Spanish domain and to check the " am- 
bitious schemes of foreign nations." Had there 
been any active expression of these " ambitious 
schemes " to contend with it is to be feared Vilas 
would have experienced much difficulty in carry- 
ing out this portion of his instructions in spite of 
the fact that " no excuse was to be taken for 
failure." Another clause of these instructions 
is of interest as illustrating the spirit which 
prompted the men in charge of the whole move- 
ment: any outrage upon the natives was to meet 
with the most condign punishment. 

May 14 saw the arrival of Rivera y Moncada 
with the first land division. This consisted of 
twenty-five soldiers and about ten others. They 
had endured severe hardships on their journey, 
but had come through in much better health than 
those who traveled by sea. Rivera immediately 
took charge and during the six weeks which elapsed 
before the arrival of the remaining division, made 
preparations for the settlement. He selected for 
their camp a site on high ground in what is now 
North San Diego. Huts for the men and cor- 



32 The Story of California 

rals for the animals were constructed and a sub- 
stantial village had sprung up by the time of 
Portola's arrival. 

This memorable reunion of the whole party, 
which marked the accomplishment of the pur- 
pose of the expedition, occurred on July i, 1769. 
Portola himself had pushed on ahead with a 
small bodyguard and arrived two days before. 
His section of the expedition, consisting of about 
twenty-five, had had a comparatively easy journey, 
losing none of its members by death, and having 
only one serious accident to contend with. The 
second day out Father Serra became so lame from 
an ulcer on his leg that he could walk no further, 
and it was necessary to carry him on a litter. Even 
then he could not endure the pain and insisted on 
one of the muleteers applying the same remedy 
which he would have used if his mule had been 
similarly afflicted. This was done and the next 
morning the good man arose so much better in 
health that he made the remainder of the journey 
on foot without difficulty. 

Sunday, July 2, was celebrated with thanksgiv- 
ing. That done, preparations were immediately 
commenced for the permanent disposition of the 
settlers. The first step in this direction was to 
care for the sick and bury the dead which num- 
bered thirty-one out of about 225 who had started 
on the expedition. This sad duty finished, Perez 
sailed away in the San Antonio for San Lucas for 



Occupation by the Spanish 33 

supplies and more sailors. On the fourteenth, 
Portola left for the north and Monterey, leaving 
at San Diego about forty men, including the sick. 

Sunday, July 16, saw the founding by Father 
Serra of California's first mission. With the 
solemn ceremonies attendant upon this event and 
the dedication of the new establishment to San 
Diego de Alcala, began the period of Spanish 
dominion in California which after a sway of half 
a century was to give place to that of Mexico, 
which in its turn, and but a quarter of a century 
later must bow before the onsweeping tide which 
carried the sovereignty of the United States to 
the shores of the Pacific. At this time the United 
States was yet unborn; but on the far eastern 
coast of the continent events were moving rapidly 
to the climax which brought on the War of Inde- 
pendence. 

Portola's party consisted of about sixty-four 
men, including soldiers, priests, Indians and serv- 
ants. Among the priests was numbered Father 
Juan Crespi, who kept an accurate daily journal of 
the entire trip. The route followed at the start 
was practically that of the stage road which later 
ran from San Diego to Los Angeles. In the 
neighborhood of what is now called the Santa Ana 
River the party experienced a series of severe 
earthquakes. On their arrival at the river they 
had named it, after the custom of their people 
to distinguish everything with a name of great 



34 The Story of California 

length, El Rio del Dulcissimo Nombre de Jesus 
— " The River of the Sweetest Name of Jesus." 
After the earthquakes they deemed it necessary 
to further distinguish this particular river, so its 
already lengthy name was extended to El Rio del 
Dulcissimo Nombre de Jesus de los Temblores — 
w of the Earthquakes." 

This stream being now sufficiently named they 
passed on to the region of the present city of Los 
Angeles. The river here was named Porciuncula, 
after a little stream in Italy near the home of 
Saint Francis. The Indian village on its banks, 
called by the natives Yang-na, they renamed for 
the feast day on which they arrived, Nuestra Se- 
nor a de Los Angeles — " Our Lady of the 
Angels." From here the party made its way north 
through the San Fernando valley to the Santa 
Clara River, stopping at the largest of the Indian 
villages which they called Asuncion and whose site 
was to become in later years the location of the 
city of Ventura. Following the coast of the Santa 
Barbara Channel they passed through many native 
rancherias and arrived at the Santa Lucia Moun- 
tains on the 20th of September. The difficulties of 
the journey were becoming daily more severe. All 
suffered from the cold and many were ill with the 
scurvy. 

In spite of hardships they pushed on and ten 
days later passed Point Pinos and stood on the 
shores of Monterey Bay. For some reason over 



Occupation by the Spanish 35 

which there has been much dispute, but probably 
because of the season of the year they did not 
recognize it. All of the earlier writers had de- 
scribed it as a wonderful sheltered harbor into 
which ran a large river, the Salinas. In the open 
roadstead before them Portola's men could see 
nothing which answered this description. Palou 
writes, " At Point Pinos there is no port, nor have 
we seen in all our journey a country more deso- 
late than this, a people more rude, Sebastian Viz- 
caino to the contrary notwithstanding." He was 
inclined to the belief that the harbor of Vizcaino 
and the early explorers had been filled up with 
sand. 

In spite of the bitter disappointment he expe- 
rienced in failing to find Monterey Bay where he 
expected it, Portola resolved to push on in the face 
of any hardships and to continue the search. On 
October 31 they arrived at the mouth of San 
Francisco Bay, where they encamped. A few days 
later some of the men who were hunting deer 
climbed the hills to the eastward and looked out 
upon the waters of the great harbor itself. The 
names of these common soldiers under the com- 
mand of Portola we do not know, and to his name 
goes the honor of being the discoverer of San 
Francisco Bay, for so far as is known men of his 
party were the first Europeans who ever saw its 
waters. 

While the discovery of such a harbor was an 



36 The Story of California 

event of vast importance to later generations and 
gave the discoverer much prestige among those 
who lived on its shores a century and a half later, 
it contributed nothing to the wants of the inner 
man at the time of the discovery, and without 
doubt the worthy Portola and his men were far 
less elated by their discovery than they were cast 
down by the knowledge that their provisions were 
nearly exhausted and that the promised relief ship, 
the San Jose, had not been sighted. With sad- 
dened and discouraged hearts they started south- 
ward on November n. It took them twenty-six 
days to reach Monterey Bay and still they failed 
to recognize it. This time however they marked 
the spot where they supposed it ought to have 
been by erecting a cross on the shore of the bay 
and leaving at its base a message for the com- 
mander of the San Jose, should that vessel arrive 
after their departure. 

The members of the party, almost dead from 
exhaustion, reached San Diego January 24, but 
found nothing to cheer them. There were no 
signs of progress except a few more mud huts. 
Eight men had died. No Indians had been con- 
verted. 

The reverses were too much for Portola, who 
felt that nothing was to be gained by further 
delay or effort and ordered that the whole project 
be abandoned and that the return to Mexico com- 
mence on the 20th of March. This brought a 



Occupation by the Spanish 37 

violent outburst from Father Serra, who saw 
what he believed would prove the flower of his 
life work thus about to be crushed in the very 
bud. He protested and refused to leave, but the 
governor was obdurate and insisted on the depart- 
ure unless the relief ship should arrive before the 
day set. 

Human agencies being of no avail in saving his 
cherished project Serra and the other friars spent 
the remaining few days in prayer to Heaven for 
relief. March 19 dawned and still no vessel 
appeared. The start must be made on the mor- 
row. All day the fathers eagerly scanned the 
horizon and just at sunset saw a glimmer of 
white far to the west. It was a sail and the expe- 
dition was saved. 

The ship was the San Antonio which the re- 
doubtable Perez had again brought through. A 
peculiar chain of events had occurred to bring her 
to San Diego in the nick of time. She had started 
under instructions to proceed to Monterey to meet 
Portola there. While at anchor in the Santa 
Barbara Channel for the purpose of refilling her 
water casks, her commander had been informed 
by the Indians that the land party had already 
returned to the south ; but the orders were to pro- 
ceed to Monterey, so, in spite of this intelligence, 
he again set out for that port. The loss of an 
anchor almost immediately afterward, however, 
made it necessary for him to return to San Diego, 



38 The Story of California 

where he arrived as if in miraculous answer to 
the prayers of the friars. 

The arrival of supplies and more men, put new 
hope into the workers who were already on the 
ground. The moribund settlement sprang into 
renewed activity. The construction of houses and 
other buildings was commenced and the work of 
establishing a permanent colony began in earnest. 

Even Portola felt the new spirit. He departed 
a second time for Monterey on April 17, leav- 
ing twenty-eight men as the permanent force at 
San Diego to convert the gentilidad, as the In- 
dians were called. Serra had left for the same 
destination the day before in the San Antonio. 
The land expedition was the first to reach Monte- 
rey, and this time the beautiful bay was recog- 
nized. The only reasonable explanation for the 
first failure to find this bay, and its later recogni- 
tion seems to be found in the difference in seasons. 
The early explorers, as it happened, had always 
described the bay as it appeared in the spring. In 
the dry season its appearance was so different that 
Portola's men could see no resemblance to the 
descriptions. 

They found the cross which they had left on the 
shore of the bay undisturbed by the natives but 
covered with arrows, sticks, fish, and other Indian 
offerings to the white man's fetich. They had 
only one week to wait before the San Antonio 
dropped her anchor in the bay and the Father- 



Occupation by the Spanish 39 

President camt ashore. On June 3, 1770, the 
double ceremony of taking formal possession of 
the whole country by Portola in the name of His 
Majesty Carlos III, King of Spain, and the found- 
ing of the Mission of San Carlos Borromeo de 
Monterey by Serra, was celebrated with all the 
solemnity possible under the circumstances. Serra 
had won California for Spain and the Franciscans. 



CHAPTER IV 

JUNIPERO SERRA 1713-1784 

ACCORDING to Emerson, " an institution is 
the lengthened shadow of one man." In the 
case, of the missions, and in fact the entire Spanish 
regime, in Alta California, the man whose length- 
ened shadow they were was Junipero Serra. As 
has already been seen, it was his tenacity which had 
delayed the departure of the great fourfold expe- 
dition from returning to Mexico until the relief 
ship was in sight. In a similar, though not in so 
striking a manner, it was his tremendous person- 
ality which was the guiding power and the impel- 
ling force which were to change California from a 
lounging ground of benighted beings into the 
home for a time of happy, prosperous communi- 
ties. 

Miguel Jose Serra was born of lowly parents at 
Petra in the island of Majorca, November 24, 
17 13. As a boy he exhibited a strong tendency 
to the thoughtful consideration of religious mat- 
ters. At the age of sixteen he became a novitiate 
of the Franciscan order. It was at the time of 
his induction into this order that he took the name 
" Junipero " and so caused the good padre to 

40 



Junipero Serra 41 

remark, " would that I had a whole forest of such 
junipers ! " While studying in the convent in Ma- 
jorca he formed an intimate friendship with three 
other young friars, Palou, Verger and Crespi. 

Serra was the most brilliant of the four and 
there was conferred upon him the degree of Doc- 
tor of Theology. His success in the pulpit was 
phenomenal for one of his age. He often height- 
ened the effect of his fervid orations by beating 
his breast with a sharp stone or dashing against 
it a burning torch. His fame spread rapidly. He 
was successful in all he undertook. The path to 
honor and fortune lay broad before him. 

But his heart was not so inclined. Far back in 
his earnest youth he had determined to make the 
new world his field. He believed that there were 
hundreds of thousands of poor savages before 
whose feet yawned the fiery chasm of hell. To 
carry the gospel to these unfortunates and thus 
save their otherwise doomed souls became with 
him a passion. He would not stay to receive the 
empty plaudits of the civilized world and leave 
this noble labor to the efforts of some half-hearted 
priest. 

In a transport of joy he received word that per- 
mission had been granted him to join a party of 
missionaries leaving Cadiz for Mexico in 1749. 
The voyage occupied ninety-nine days, after which 
the friars were landed at Vera Cruz. From here 
they set out for the College of San Fernando in 



42 The Story of California 

Mexico City. Horses were provided for this 
journey of 300 miles, but Serra begged and ob- 
tained leave to walk, as a matter of self-discipline. 
On this journey a little incident occurred which, 
though small in itself, played an important part 
in Serra's after life. He was severely bitten on 
the leg by mosquitoes and scratched the bites. 
Because of prolonged neglect properly to care for 
it the wound ulcerated and became a constant 
source of pain, and, but for the muleteer's oint- 
ment, and his own indomitable will, must have 
put an end to the journey from Mexico to 
California. 

Though never free from pain he accepted the 
affliction bravely as a part of his cross, consider- 
ing it as a heaven sent instrument of discipline. 
In the early part of his journey from Vera Cruz 
to Mexico when the ulcer began to pain him it 
affected his spirits not at all, and he became more 
and more elated as he felt that he was nearing 
the long-cherished goal. Arrived there however 
he found this goal receding before him and still 
many years away. He worked at the college for 
nineteen years before his opportunity finally came. 
This long delay was indeed a sore trial to the 
zealous proselyter, for he believed that all the 
time he was delayed there were every year hun- 
dreds dying whose souls would be lost because 
he had not been able to bring to them the salva- 
tion of his church. 



Junipero Serra 43 

He had reached the age of fifty-six years when 
the order finally came which placed him as Father- 
President at the head of the religious work of the 
expedition which was to occupy Alta California 
for Spain. Under him were to be sixteen mission- 
aries to assist in the work of converting the 
heathen. 

It was characteristic of the man that when the 
time came for him to choose whether he would 
go by land or water he elected the land journey 
though that would necessitate the enduring of 
much greater hardships. During all the years in 
Mexico he had made no attempt to cure the ulcer 
on his leg, and the toilsome exertion of traveling 
by foot irritated the injury until the pain was even 
greater than Father Serra with all his fortitude 
could bear. 

His relief from this suffering by the application 
of the muleteer's herbs strengthened the Padre's 
belief that he was under the especial protection of 
Heaven. But this belief never led him to con- 
sider that he was better or greater than his com- 
panions. His joy was always as great at their 
success as at his own. On the other hand, he 
always deemed himself a poor tool in the hands 
of Providence for the carrying out of the divine 
plan. He affected extreme humility and shunned 
all honors except those that were thrust upon 
him. Earthly honors were to him empty baubles. 
The only thing worth living for was religious duty, 



44 The Story of California 

but this duty must, in order to be truly praise- 
worthy, be done in a Franciscan way. And here 
appears the narrow limitation of the man's vision. 
To so great a soul impeded by a restricted intel- 
lectual outlook, the term fanatic is peculiarly appli- 
cable. An incident which occurred in 1776 aptly 
illustrates this. There came to him a rumor of 
an expected attack by Indians. His heart was 
filled with joy at the thought of possible martyr- 
dom ; at the prospect of his own death at the hands 
of the savages. Fortunately he controlled his 
feelings sufficiently to send to Monterey for troops 
and avert what would have been a real disaster 
for California. 

It was this rigid adherence to the methods of 
action which seemed best to him that led him to 
quarrel with almost every civil ruler of California 
with whom he came in contact. Nothing was 
allowed to encroach in the slightest on the Fran- 
ciscans, or their own methods of converting the 
heathen, and one after another, Fages, Rivera, 
and De Neve, successive governors of California, 
felt the heat of his jealousy, and the tremendous 
power which he possessed of making it felt. While 
realizing that Serra is probably not entirely free 
from blame in these dissensions, at the same time 
we shall materially discount the statements of 
De Neve that he employed " unspeakable artifice 
and shrewdness " in his dealings with the civil 
authority, and that steps must be taken to bring 



Junipero Serra 45 

" this president to a proper acknowledgment of 
the authority which he eludes while pretending to 
obey." 

That he was not entirely guileless is shown by 
some of the petitions in his memorial to Gov- 
ernor Bucareli of Mexico, which embraced thirty- 
two requests for the betterment of the conditions 
of the mission establishments. The memorial 
asked for a doubling of the size of the guard at 
each mission, the Father-President planning in this 
way to secure sufficient soldiers for the establish- 
ment of an equal number of new missions with a 
guard of the original size. It must be noted, 
however, that his craftiness was always employed 
for what he believed to be the best interests of 
the religious institutions under his care, and never 
for his own benefit. 

While Serra did not omit the employment of 
shrewd tactics for the attainment of his purposes, 
he was indefatigable in the realm of straightfor- 
ward hard work. His triumphant faith and mili- 
tant spirit carried all before them. His refusal 
to obey the orders of Portola for the abandon- 
ment of San Diego Mission is typical of the 
whole spirit of the man's life. Embarking on the 
great labor of his life at the age of fifty-six, he 
endured the struggle and hardship uncomplain- 
ingly for fifteen long years afterwards. Palou, 
his friend and biographer, writes of him: " For 
him no difficulty was too great, no hardship too 



46 The Story of California 

intense. His courage failed not in the face of 
dangers which would have appalled others; his 
sublime faith removed monuments of perplexity 
and inspired his loyal band." 

But no statement of the characteristics of the 
man can bring out his true self so vividly as a 
brief glance at the work he undertook and prose- 
cuted to a successful issue. He went to an abso- 
lutely uncivilized country. He was a pioneer in 
almost every branch of civilization. He must hew 
trees, saw lumber, make bricks; he must be his 
own architect, contractor and builder; he must 
train men not only in the methods of labor but 
also in the habit of labor itself. And the raw 
material of which he must first make men and then 
Christians was of the lowest order of mankind, 
whose language was unknown to him and for 
whom there were no interpreters. 

The cross as an instrument of conquest is one of 
the most powerful in the world's history. In the 
hands of Serra it was such indeed. For his royal 
master the impelling motive of the expedition to 
California was avarice, but for Fray Junipero it 
was propagandism, the saving of myriad unen- 
lightened souls. 

Richman calls Serra " a new-world Francis of 
Assisi, post-medieval, yet not belated for his task; 
beholder of visions, believer in miracles, merciless 
wielder of the penitential scourge." 

Such was this invincible personality under 



Junipero Serra 47 

whose guidance the missions of California came 
into being. Whatever of glory or grandeur is 
theirs, and there is much of both, is in a large 
measure his; for his was the ideal of which they 
were the real; he was the man of whom they were 
the lengthened shadow. 

Serra took part personally in the founding of 
nine missions and remained Father-President over 
them all until his death. At the age of seventy 
years and when in feeble health, he made the 
journey on foot from Monterey to San Diego, 
visiting all the intervening missions and villages. 
Such was the love of this man for his work. The 
love for him of those whom he had befriended was 
no less, and at his death hundreds of mourning 
neophytes heaped flowers on the coffin of their 
beloved teacher. 



CHAPTER V 

THE FOUNDING OF THE MISSIONS 

F T is a noticeable fact that all of the Spanish ex- 
* plorers, though they were as a rule rough men 
of an adventurous type, were very observant of 
the forms of the Catholic religion. It is recorded 
that during Vizcaino's voyage it was the first duty 
of the sailors whenever they landed to erect a 
church tent for the friars. This is indicative of 
the tremendous domination which the church exer- 
cised over the minds of the whole Spanish people. 
And its sway was no less undisputed over the 
officers of the government. 

As has been stated, the plan of occupation of 
Alta California was threefold, with the religious 
establishments considered the most important 
feature. Within two weeks after the junction of 
the four parties constituting the first expedition 
at San Diego, the mission there was formally 
established. About a year later, when Portola 
and Serra had finally located Monterey, the cere- 
monies of taking possession of the country for 
the King of Spain and of founding the Mission of 
San Carlos took place on the same day. 

The ceremonies which marked the founding of 
a mission were simple and practically the same at 

48 



The Founding of the Missions 49 

all of the establishments. An enramada, or bower 
of branches, was first constructed. Small bells 
were either swung from the branches of trees or a 
simple frame was erected for them. A cross was 
raised in front of the bower and an image of the 
virgin was set on the altar. These received the 
blessing of the priest, which completed the prepa- 
rations. The service began with the ringing of the 
mission bells to summon the nearby natives. 
Father Junipero then donned his alb and stole and 
all present remained on their knees while the Vent 
Creator Spiritus was chanted. Mass was said 
amid the roar of cannon and musketry, the latter 
demonstration invariably frightening away the 
natives whose curiosity had brought them to the 
spot. A sermon was then preached by which, in 
Serra's own words, it was " hoped to put to flight 
all the hosts of Hell and subject to the mild yoke 
of our holy faith the barbarity " of the Indians. 

Recovering rapidly from their first fright at 
the firing of the muskets, the natives showed no 
signs of timidity. They gathered in large num- 
bers to receive the gifts of the new comers. The 
gifts which they sought were those material rather 
than those spiritual, however, and the friars were 
prepared to supply their material wants. They 
had brought quantities of beads and other trinkets 
as presents. If a plentiful supply of these was 
not forthcoming the natives were prone to as- 
sist the friars in getting the desired objects 



50 The Story of California 

into native hands by confiscating what they liked 
most. They were adroit thieves as well as impor- 
tunate beggars. 

Though eagerly accepting the beads and trink- 
ets the natives did not see fit to confine themselves 
to the receipt of these alone. The small force at 
San Diego found it exceedingly difficult to watch 
them in order to prevent their depredations and 
at the same time to care for their own sick. 
Conditions went from bad to worse, both sides 
growing more determined, the soldiers and friars 
finding it necessary to resort to physical means to 
prevent the total loss of their property, and the In- 
dians also resorting to force in their attempts 
to get it. At last blood was shed. Three Indians 
and one white boy were killed. After this the 
natives became more circumspect and the mission- 
aries erected a stockade around their buildings. 
These measures overcame the trouble from thiev- 
ing but effectively stopped for the time all progress 
in religious matters, and no native was baptized 
at this mission for over a year. 

The experience at San Diego, while not exactly 
duplicated at the other missions, was typical of the 
occurrences at all, and it took many months of 
hard and painstaking labor to bring in a sufficient 
number of neophytes to carry on the work neces- 
sary to maintain the establishments in such a man- 
ner as to make those in charge feel that they were 
really permament; 



The Founding of the Missions 51 

After a year's labor at San Diego and a second 
year spent at Monterey, Father Serra felt that 
the time had come for the extension of the sys- 
tem and early in July, 1771, he set out from 
Monterey with about a dozen men to found the 
Mission of San Antonio de Padua, which was ac- 
complished on July 14, with the customary cere- 
monies. The natives here were more tractable 
than at San Diego or Monterey and soon came to 
the mission in large numbers. The first baptism 
was celebrated August 14, just a month after the 
founding. 

On his return to Monterey, Serra ordered the 
removal of the Mission San Carlos. Ostensibly 
this was done to secure a location on more favor- 
able ground, but in reality it was to get away from 
the immediate vicinity of the presidio. Already 
there began to be felt the first throes of the long 
drawn out struggle between the religious and the 
civil-military authorities. The conduct of the sol- 
diers toward the Indian women was a fruitful 
source of trouble between the two powers. 

At the founding of the next mission, that of 
San Gabriel, Father Serra was not present owing 
to the failure of Lieutenant Fages, (between 
whom and the Father-President antagonism was 
already beginning to ripen into enmity) to notify 
him in time. San Gabriel Arcangel was founded 
on September 8, 1771, on the banks of the Santa 
Ana River, from which location it was later moved 



52 The Story of California 

to the present situation because of the danger from 
the spring floods. The Indians in this region 
made hostile demonstrations at the approach of 
the friars, but at sight of a picture of the Vir- 
gin Mary they fell down and worshipped. After 
this they flocked to the mission in great numbers 
and the experience of San Diego was repeated. 
The trouble here was undoubtedly aggravated by 
the conduct of the soldiers, on whom Serra places 
the blame for the whole matter, and who he tes- 
tifies were guilty of riding into the Indian rancher- 
ias and lassoing the native women. 

The growing rancor between the friars and 
the soldiery and the desire to make more secure 
the position of the former, led Father Serra to 
undertake a journey to Mexico for a personal 
interview with the authorities there. He started 
late in August, 1772, to make the journey over- 
land to San Diego, stopping on the way to found 
the Mission of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa in the 
midst of a large friendly Indian population. He 
sailed from San Diego for Mexico on October 
20. His purpose was threefold : first, to secure the 
removal of Fages, the military commander, with 
whom he constantly quarrelled; second, to secure 
concessions for the work at the missions; third, 
to become acquainted with the new governor, 
Bucareli. The journey consumed much more time 
than he had expected for he was taken so ill at 
Guadalajara that the sacrament for the dying 



The Founding of the Missions 53 

was administered in despair of his recovery. After 
accomplishing his mission he was further detained 
by a request to prepare a full report on the state 
of the Alta California Missions. The delay was 
fully compensated for however by his success in 
accomplishing his purposes. Fages was succeeded 
by Rivera y Moncada, a close friend of the Fa- 
ther-President; many of his requests as to the mis- 
sions were granted, such as the right to have 
refractory soldiers removed, the prompt delivery 
of the mission mails, and, more important than 
any of the others, a more systematic method of 
furnishing supplies by means of relief ships. He 
found Bucareli an enthusiastic supporter of the 
missions and left him their firm friend. 

At this time an event took place of much 
importance to the missionaries. The chain of mis- 
sions in Baja California was turned over to the 
Dominican Order. This order had long been 
demanding a division of the Mexican missions 
and, as the Alta California establishments were 
not considered of any importance, they had asked 
for half of the Baja California chain. Great was 
their surprise when the Franciscans suddenly 
agreed to give up to them all the Baja missions. 
The Dominicans were thus satisfied because they 
received more than they had ever asked for and 
the Franciscans were content to have the complete 
control of the Alta missions whose far greater 
importance they already recognized. 



54 The Story of California 

One of the beneficial results of this transfer 
was the arrival of Francisco Palou in Alta Cali- 
fornia to take up the work there. He was one 
of the three schoolmates of the Father-President, 
who had come to America with him years before. 
He had been president of the Baja missions and 
the transfer to the Dominicans left him free to 
join Serra in the northern work. Palou after- 
wards became Serra's biographer and one of Cali- 
fornia's earliest historians. 

After Serra's return from Mexico, the work 
of extension was taken up with renewed activity. 
October 30, 1775, a party under Padre Lasuen 
and Lieutenant Ortega performed the service ded- 
icatory of San Juan Capistrano Mission. The 
next day however came the terrible news of the 
destruction of San Diego Mission by the Indians, 
and after burying the bells of San Juan the party 
hastened to return to the scene of the disaster. 

San Diego Mission had been moved back sev- 
eral miles into the interior and away from the 
presidio probably for the same reason that San 
Carlos was moved. Taking advantage of this 
arrangement, a great force of natives had sur- 
rounded the mission and opened the attack at 
night. The church and vestry were first robbed 
of their sacred vessels and vestments, and all the 
buildings except those occupied by the native con- 
verts were fired. Friar Jayme, the blacksmith, 
and the carpenter, were killed, and many others 



The Founding of the Missions 55 

were seriously wounded. The neophytes after 
the disaster were loud in their lamentations at 
their inability to render assistance because as they 
said, guards had been placed at their doors who 
had forbidden them to move on pain of death. 
There was however, always suspicion that some 
of them at least had been instrumental in instigat- 
ing the attack. When the news was taken to 
Father Serra he said: " Thanks be to God; that 
land is watered; now will follow the conversion of 
the San Diego Indians." Because of this lament- 
able outbreak at San Diego no work was actually 
done at San Juan Capistrano until November 
first of the following year, when Serra himself was 
present, and blessed the new establishment. 

About this time there set out from Tubac in 
Mexico, a party of settlers under Captain Juan 
Bautista de Anza. The people of this party had 
been assembled for the purpose of effecting a set- 
tlement in the region of San Francisco Bay, where 
a mission and presidio were to be established. 
Anza was ordered to take this party overland by 
a hitherto unexplored route through what is now 
southern Arizona, the Imperial Valley and the 
Coachella Valley. They left the Coachella Val- 
ley by the San Carlos Pass; made their way 
through the Hemet Valley and by San Jacinto 
Lake to the Santa Ana River and San Gabriel Mis- 
sion where they arrived on January 4, 1776, after 
suffering intensely from the cold and the lack of 



56 The Story of California 

water. After a short stop at San Gabriel the ex- 
pedition pushed on to Monterey where it arrived 
March 10. The commandant, Rivera, was at 
Monterey and a slight misunderstanding of some 
sort occurred between him and Anza which delayed 
the departure for San Francisco and caused Anza 
to return to Mexico very soon after his arrival at 
the bay, and before anything permanent had been 
done. After Anza left, Rivera ordered his lieu- 
tenant, Moraga, to proceed to San Francisco and 
begin the construction of the presidio but nothing 
was to be done toward establishing a mission. 

Moraga arrived at the bay June 27, and sites 
were immediately chosen for both the presidio and 
the mission. One month later Father Palou 
blessed the first building as a chapel. The friars 
proceeded with all the preparations for founding 
a mission, but there was no consecration because 
of the inexplicable orders of Rivera to the con- 
trary. Two months longer they waited in vain 
for these orders to be countermanded and Moraga 
finally took the responsibility upon himself and 
San Francisco Mission was formally dedicated 
October 9, 1776. The ceremonies were marked 
with the usual firing of cannon which frightened 
away for days the natives they had come to con- 
vert. The news was at once carried to Rivera 
who, to the relief of all concerned in the affair, 
approved the foundation. It is probable that he 
had been as anxious as anyone to proceed with 



The Founding of the Missions 57 

the founding, but through some fit of jealousy had 
refused to order it done. The friars at San Fran- 
cisco had much the same experience with the thiev- 
ing of the natives as those at San Diego, and it 
was not until the following June that the first 
neophyte was baptized. This mission was always 
the most backward in making converts. From 
all points of view, it was the least successful of 
any of the missions. 

Two more missions, Santa Clara and San Buena- 
ventura, were established before Serra's death, 
which occurred at Monterey August 28, 1784. 
While he had been the great leader in the work 
of founding the missions, there was no halt at his 
death. He was deeply mourned by both friars 
and neophytes wherever his benign influence had 
made itself felt. But the men associated with him 
were also great men and eminently fitted to carry 
on the labors which their master had left to them. 
Serra's old friend and schoolmate, Palou, acted as 
temporary president until a permanent successor 
was appointed in the person of Fermin Francisco 
Lasuen who filled the office of Father-President 
for nearly twenty years, making a record for him- 
self which some deem greater than Serra's, and 
which was certainly second only to his in the 
annals of early California history. 

During Serra's lifetime there had been estab- 
lished nine missions. The end of the eighteenth 
century saw eighteen; and with the founding of 



58 The Story of California 

San Francisco Solano in 1823, the total number 
reached twenty-one. These were missions proper, 
and the number does not include several thriving 
establishments such as San Antonio de Pala, Santa 
Ysabel, and Santa Margarita, which were operated 
as branches of the other missions. All these 
institutions had been established and the whole 
country brought under the yoke of Spain without 
expense to the royal treasury. This had been the 
understanding at the beginning. The expense had 
to be borne by private parties, and this led to the 
establishment of the Pious Fund, the record of 
which is in itself an interesting phase of the his- 
tory of the missions. 

The Pious Fund consisted of money and prop- 
erty given by devout Catholics to the cause of 
proselyting the California Indians. Father Sal- 
vatierra, one of the most famous of the early 
Jesuit fathers, secured the first contributions to 
the fund in 1697, gathering over fifty thousand 
dollars. By 1768, the aggregate was over $1,273,- 
000, and yielded an annual income of $50,000. 
It was invested almost entirely in land. When 
the Jesuits were expelled from Mexico, the fund 
was turned over to the Franciscans and Domini- 
cans, and it was from this source that the former 
derived the means to conduct their widespread 
activity in Alta California. Each friar in charge 
of a mission had a salary of $275 a year, and an 
additional allowance of $400 for traveling ex- 




< 

< 

< ^ 

h "^ 

fa e 
O o 

o 

I— I 

CO 

CO 



The Founding of the Missions 59 

penses. Each new mission as it was established, 
received from the fund the sum of $1,000 for 
equipment and vestments. The additional sup- 
plies necessary were furnished by a general levy 
on the older establishments, from which were 
drawn horses, mules, cattle and other livestock. 
While as a rule the amount furnished a new mis- 
sion was sufficient for its needs, a peculiar stingi- 
ness was noted at times. For instance when the 
three missions of San Gabriel, San Antonio, and 
San Buenaventura were projected, it was deemed 
sufficient to send three hens with their broods, and 
one rooster for the three missions. 

From such small beginnings the twenty-one mis- 
sion institutions became an establishment of vast 
wealth, owning at the height of its prosperity over 
230,000 cattle, nearly 40,000 horses and mules, 
and about 300,000 head of smaller livestock. The 
grain production in its best years was nearly 125,- 
000 bushels. The number of Indians who were 
baptized is recorded as 88,240, of whom as many 
as 25,000 were in residence at the missions at one 
time. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE PRESIDIOS 

T N describing the tremendous work done by the 
* religious element in the Spanish occupation, 
mention has occasionally been made of the military 
forces. The number of soldiers in California was 
at no time large, a few men being considered a suf- 
ficient guard for each mission. The main bodies 
of troops, also few in number, were gathered into 
the presidios. These were the centers of military 
activity as the missions were the centers of relig- 
ious operations. 

The work of the military branch in occupying 
the country had very little of the military element 
in it. California was not conquered, even in the 
sense given to the word when it is used to describe 
the unresisted march of an army of Spanish adven- 
turers through the territory of a simple and unwar- 
like people. On no occasion did anything that 
might by any stretch of the imagination be called 
a battle or even a skirmish, take place. The near- 
est thing to it was the attack on San Diego Mis- 
sion, whose unfortunate termination has already 
been described. The Franciscans " conquered " 
California, and the part played by the soldiery was 
largely that of laborers and police. Their prin- 

60 



The Presidios 61 

cipal duties consisted in inspiring enough fear in 
the native breast to ward off any incipient attack, 
and in undertaking punitive expeditions when 
thieving and desertion became too frequent. 

Far too often these duties were so extremely 
light that the unoccupied soldier looked about him 
with eyes open for amusement. Not being over- 
burdened with religious or moral scruples, his 
efforts to entertain himself were a constant source 
of irritation and discouragement to the hard work- 
ing friars. The Indian women, being the only 
representatives of their sex in the country, were 
the principal objects of the soldier's attentions. In 
many instances the Fathers found it one of the 
most difficult parts of their work to overcome the 
evil wrought in this way. 

While the common soldiers furnished much to 
worry the priests with whom they came in direct 
contact, their commander, or comandante as he 
was called, was often in hostilities with the Father- 
President. Especially was this so during Serra's 
time, and it was due to the untiring energy with 
which he maintained the supremacy of the relig- 
ious over the civil and military branches, and to 
the success which he met in establishing that 
supremacy beyond question, that his successors 
found their tasks in this direction much easier of 
accomplishment. 

But while the part played by the soldiers was 
insignificant and it may well be doubted whether 



62 The Story of California 

the friars would not have succeeded just as well 
or better without their presence, nevertheless the 
establishment of military posts was part of the 
plan of occupation, and that part was carried out 
just as were those portions of the plan which re- 
lated to the missions. California was divided 
into four military districts, each to have its pre- 
sidio, or headquarters. The first two of these 
were founded simultaneously with the missions — 
in 1769 at San Diego and at Monterey in 1770. 
The presidio at San Francisco was also estab- 
lished at the same time as its mission in 1776. 
The fourth of the military posts, that at Santa 
Barbara, was founded in 1782. The presidio of 
Monterey always took precedence because that 
town was the seat of local government, the 
governor's residence and was close to the head- 
quarters of the Father-President of the Missions 
at San Carlos. 

Much the same ceremonies marked the found- 
ing of both presidio and mission, and in the early 
days they resembled each other in outward appear- 
ance. The same style of architecture was used 
and of course the same materials for construc- 
tion. The small cannon mounted at the corners 
of the presidio, and the constant presence of sol- 
diers, alone served to distinguish it from its more 
peaceful neighbor. As the years passed, however, 
the difference became more and more marked. 
While the mission prospered and grew, and its 



The Presidios 63 

outward appearance put on the aspect of gran- 
deur some relics of which still remain, the presidio 
early became afflicted with a sort of dry rot and 
passed from a state of destitution to one of dilap- 
idation, and from that to utter ruin. The obvious 
reason for this was that the missions soon became 
producers, in fact for many years were the only 
sources of supply in the country, while the presid- 
ios were never more than parasites, and having no 
economic value, received no economic support. 
Beside this innate weakness, they were afflicted 
from another source. They became a sort of 
public works for the support of officials, who 
gleaned for themselves whatever profitings came 
within reach. 

In their brightest days the presidios were never 
able to resist a real attack, and in the land of the 
Apaches would soon have been demolished; but 
in the simple and peaceable Californian they 
served to inspire a wholesome fear of the Span- 
iards which was seldom forgotten. 

At the presidio of Monterey, the largest of the 
four, there were only eighty men and several 
officers, while the whole force in the province in 
1800 was 372 men. Ten years later there were 
forty men. Vancouver, the English explorer, was 
unable to understand how such an insignificant 
force could keep so large a country in subjection. 
Governor Borica comforted himself in a similar 
reflection, with the thought that those from whom 



64 The Story of California 

attack might be expected were probably ignorant 
of the weakness of the defenses. The buildings 
were no sooner completed than they were allowed 
to run down and become so dilapidated as to defy 
repair. Those at San Diego were abandoned and 
the materials used to build huts for the settlers 
between 1835 and 1840. An example of the 
meagre support these institutions were tendered is 
afforded by the fact that no pay was received by 
any Spanish soldier in California from 18 10 to 
1820. 

There was one military establishment in the 
country which fared somewhat better than the 
presidios for a time. This was Fort San Joaquin 
at the entrance of San Francisco Bay. This 
defense, completed December 8, 1794, was in the 
shape of a horseshoe on the point opposite the 
Golden Gate. Its adobe walls mounted only eight 
guns, but in the opinion of one Spanish commander 
it was strong enough to prevent any vessel from 
entering the port. It is probable that when this 
opinion was formed the fort was not in the con- 
dition in which Kotzebue, the Russian commander 
found it, for when he sailed into the bay he had to 
lend the soldiers of the fort powder with which 
to fire a salute in his honor. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE PUEBLOS 

HP HE civil occupation fared not much better than 
^ the military. The three-fold plan had pro- 
vided for the settlement of the new country by 
means of a number of pueblos or villages. The 
plans laid out for these pueblos were very complete 
and even elaborate on paper, but they were never 
realized in fact. A pueblo grant consisted of 
four square leagues of land in a rectangular tract. 
At a suitable place near the center of this tract 
the plaza or common was to be laid out, always 
rectangular in form. In the case of Los Angeles 
this plaza was about 200 by 300 feet and lay 
with the four corners to the cardinal points of the 
compass. The streets were to run perpendicular 
to its side " so that no street would be swept by 
the winds." It is not stated by what means the 
winds were to be confined to the cardinal points, 
and it is quite probable that there existed other 
and better reasons for this arrangement. The 
location of the plaza having been decided upon, 
the remainder of the grant was divided into 
blocks and lots for residences and farming. The 
public buildings, including the church, were to be 
located around the plaza, and the courthouse was 

65 



66 The Story of California 

to have a position of honor in the center. The 
remaining lots were to be apportioned among 
the pobladores or villagers. 

This geographical ideal was accompanied by 
a no less pretentious scheme for the government 
of the pueblo after its establishment. The legis- 
lative body, called the ayuntamiento, was to con- 
sist of fifteen judges, attorneys, and others. The 
titular head of the government was to be the 
comisionado. There were also to be various 
under-officers to lend dignity and provide the 
completeness of outward form so necessary to 
the Spanish mind. These officials were at first 
to be appointed by the comandante but later were 
to be elected by the citizens. It was the purpose 
of the projectors to gather the Indians into these 
towns in order the more rapidly to civilize them. 
The actual conditions at the pueblos will disclose 
the wisdom of this plan. It is interesting to note 
that Rivera was especially instructed to exercise 
extreme caution in avoiding defects at the begin- 
ning of these towns as they might grow to be 
great cities. 

The settlers who formed the citizenship of the 
colonies received a house lot, a tract of farm land, 
the use of the common pasture, and a loan of 
stock and the necessary implements and seed to set 
them up as colonists. The stock consisted of a 
yoke of oxen, two horses, two cows, two sheep, 
two goats, and a mule. This loan was to be repaid 



The Pueblos 67 

in products of the soil at the end of the year. 
Until the settler was established on a self-support- 
ing basis, he also received the equivalent of ten 
dollars a month and soldiers' rations. The par- 
cels of land were held by the settlers under a 
lease system. Their title was good against any- 
one but the government so long as they continued 
to occupy and cultivate the land, but this title 
carried with it no right of granting or devising, and 
was subject to forfeiture for failure to comply 
with certain regulations. 

The requirements for prospective pobladores 
were theoretically very strict. They must be mar- 
ried men, accompanied by their families; healthy 
and robust. They must bind themselves to ten 
years of service in the colonies. The female rela- 
tives of such settlers were to be encouraged to 
accompany the families with a view to marriage 
with the bachelor soldiers already in the prov- 
ince. It is needless to say that under the condi- 
tions in Mexico, these requirements could seldom 
be met. In fact so frequently were they waived 
that it really became the exception to find a man 
or a family that did meet them. 

It fell to the lot of Governor de Neve to super- 
intend the actual founding of the only two of the 
pueblos which ever became accomplished facts. 
He chose the site for the first about halfway 
between Monterey and San Francisco, then but a 
few months old. El Pueblo de San Jose de Guad- 



68 The Story of California 

alupe was the sonorous title bestowed upon the 
new settlement, and it received its formal start in 
the world on November 29, 1776. The original 
population consisted of fourteen families. 

Nearly live years later, September 4, 178 1, the 
second pueblo, El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la 
Reina de Los Angeles was founded and became 
the residence of twelve families; forty-six per- 
sons in all. These colonists were mostly of a 
mixture of Indian and negro blood with traces 
of Spanish, and not one of them could read or 
write or even sign his name. A more lazy and 
unpromising company of pioneers it would proba- 
bly be hard to find and the result was what might 
be expected under the circumstances. And yet 
this was the beginning of the most prosperous 
of the Spanish pueblos. 

A third pueblo was proposed at San Francisco 
but after investigation it was decided that this 
location was the worst place in California for the 
purpose in view : " nothing but sand, brambles, 
and raging winds." An attempt was however 
made to establish a third colony near the site of 
the present city of Santa Cruz. This was the 
favorite project of the new Viceroy of Mexico and 
was named in his honor Villa Branciforte. To 
make it a model pueblo was the dream of the 
Viceroy. It was founded with all ceremony and 
carefully watched by a paternal government, the 
supervision of the authorities even going so far 



The Pueblos 69 

as to prescribe for each inhabitant the careful 
observance of all Christian solemnities. To think 
that this ideal community could sink to the low 
level of San Jose and Los Angeles was impossi- 
ble! But its population was soon rebuked for 
immorality, and was later accused of attempted 
murder. Bad as were the other two pueblos, 
Branciforte was worse than either and soon came 
to an untimely end. Its material portion passed 
into oblivion and today no trace remains of the 
Viceroy's cherished dream. 

The pueblos started under sufficiently discour- 
aging conditions, but if they ever had any real 
opportunity to grow prosperous and orderly it was 
effectually checked by the policy of the govern- 
ment in using California as a penal colony for 
Mexico. Governor Fages, De Neve's successor, 
made the fatal suggestion to the Mexican author- 
ities that artisans who had been imprisoned for 
crime in Mexico be sent to California to work out 
their sentences at the presidios, missions, and 
pueblos. Military discipline at the presidios and 
religious discipline at the missions preserved both 
of these institutions from the contamination of 
these characters. But the pueblos had no such 
discipline and nothing to take its place. While 
these criminals to some extent answered a crying 
need for skilled laborers, their effect upon the 
civil communities was to destroy every vestige of 
moral fibre in their populations, 



70 The Story of California 

The degenerate character of the towns is shown 
in the report of Governor Borica in which he 
refers to their people and says that most of them 
are idlers, paying more attention to gambling and 
guitar-playing than to tilling their fields and edu- 
cating their children. Disorder was rife, quarrel- 
ing and fighting almost continuous, and murder 
frequent. Morality was practically unknown. 
One of the regulations at San Jose provided that 
all single males over twelve years of age should 
sleep every night in the guardhouse. As late as 
1809, Comisionado Alvarado at Los Angeles 
reported gambling, drunkenness and other ex- 
cesses on the increase. The town stocks were 
always occupied, and the people became more 
and more vicious, scandalous, and intolerable. 

The labor system which prevailed was partly 
the cause and partly the result of this regrettable 
condition. Agriculture and stock raising were 
the sole industries. Practically all manual labor 
was done by pagan Indians. This labor was con- 
tracted for with native chiefs who took part of 
the crop as pay and made large profits for them- 
selves in the deal. The Indians so employed 
were those who would not become converted and 
live at the missions. While the Indians performed 
their work for them, the settlers passed the day 
in singing and gambling. 

The pueblos were, therefore, total failures so 
far as their original purposes went. The failure 



The Pueblos 71 

is very generally ascribed to the unworthy char- 
acter of the colonists. This was undoubtedly a 
large factor, but there were other causes which 
prevented any possibility of success. As early 
as 1779, Governor de Neve reports the influence 
of the friars as against pueblo progress. This 
antagonism became more marked as time passed. 
The friars, splendid men as they were, were ex- 
tremely narrow, and jealously opposed develop- 
ment in any direction except that which took place 
under their own control. They did not care to 
see any power arise in the country which might 
eventually cope with theirs. 

Another very efficient cause of the poor prog- 
ress made by the pueblos was the mercantile sys- 
tem. Spain, like all other European countries 
with colonies at that time, tried to manage her 
colonies entirely for the benefit of the mother 
country. In the case of California this was ac- 
companied by another idea that the interests of 
both colony and mother country would best be 
conserved by reducing trade to the lowest possi- 
ble amount. No ships were admitted to Califor- 
nia ports except the San Bias transports and the 
Philippine vessels, and no trade of any kind was 
allowed even with these. 

Local trading transactions were likewise ham- 
pered. Sorely as the presidios needed the agricul- 
tural products of the pueblos, the law of supply 
and demand was not allowed to take its course. 



72 The Story of California 

If it had been the pueblos might have flourished, 
but they were required to sell all their surplus 
products to the presidios exclusively, at prices fixed 
from time to time by the government. As this 
selfsame government had to pay the bills for such 
supplies, the prices were never excessive. In 
addition to this elimination of all incentive to 
progress, the settlers were at all times required 
to keep themselves in readiness with horses and 
muskets for military service. The result of these 
restrictions was a continued succession of hard 
times at the pueblos, and this in spite of the fact 
that at Los Angeles a larger quantity of grain 
was produced than at any other place in the ter- 
ritory except San Gabriel. 

It was not until nearly fifty years after their 
founding that the pueblos began to show any 
signs of substantial improvement, and to obtain 
a few words of commendation from the author- 
ities instead of the volumes of censure which had 
formerly been the rule. Los Angeles established 
a school in 1817, and San Jose followed her 
example the year after. At Los Angeles the mas- 
ter received the meagre salary of $140 a year, but 
it was a start in the right direction. Kotzebue, 
who visited San Jose in 1824, speaks highly of the 
general appearance of the town and people. But 
even at their best the pueblos never became pro- 
ducers in sufficient quantity to repay their cost 
to the government which had established them. 



The Pueblos 73 

Under the republican regime, the non-military 
residents of Monterey and of Santa Barbara were 
organized into a kind of presidial pueblo which 
bore no resemblance except in name to the pueblos 
which have been described. They were, however, 
a step in the progress of these places to their posi- 
tion of cities in modern California. 

Private " ranchos " were not a part of the orig- 
inal plan of occupation. Such establishments are 
not easily supervised in the manner which appeals 
so strongly to the paternalistic spirit of Spanish 
institutions. They, as well as the pueblos, met 
with the opposition of the friars. The fear of a 
rival power was supplemented in the case of the 
ranches by the feeling that in such isolated settle- 
ments far from the ministering services of the 
missionaries there would be much backsliding in 
matters religious and moral. 

But in spite of the lack of any government pro- 
vision for them, and in the face of the opposition 
of the padres, private ranches gradually became 
established. An influential man, either by reason 
of his friendship for the governor or because of 
distinguished services, would be granted a large 
tract of land. On this tract there sprang up a 
small but almost wholly self-supporting and self- 
sufficing community. The proprietor was in a 
position of practical independence and ruled 
almost as a monarch in his little domain. In all, 
there were granted about fifty ranches which were 



i& The Story of California 

scattered all through the country from Monterey 
to San Diego. While they maintained their posi- 
tion from the start, their real prosperity began 
with the removal of trade restrictions in 1828, 
and the consequent expansion of the hide and tal- 
low industry. Their lands then became of great 
value and continued so through the time of the 
American conquest. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE SPANISH PERIOD 1769-1822 

[ T has been necessary in describing the establish- 
•*• ment of the missions, the presidios, and the 
pueblos, to allude to events and conditions of a 
later date than that of the earliest years of these 
institutions. We return now to chronicle in their 
proper order the most important events of the 
Spanish period. 

Gaspar de Portola remained the governor of 
the Californias, Upper and Lower, only until 
March of 1770. He was at that time succeeded 
by Felipe de Barri who resided at Loreto in Baja 
California, the capital of both provinces, and 
never visited Alta California at all. While Barri 
was governor, the actual management of affairs in 
the latter province was in the hands of Pedro 
Fages as comandante. Between this autocratic 
soldier and Padre Serra there was continual hos- 
tility which resulted in a temporary victory for 
the friar in 1772, when Fages was removed and 
the command in the upper province placed in the 
hands of Rivera y Moncada. Rivera was also 
a soldier, but a much more diplomatic man than 
Fages. He succeeded in getting along very well 

75 



76 The Story of California 

with the Father-President by letting him have his 
own way. 

On August 1 6, 1775, the King of Spain formally 
recognized the fact that Alta California far ex- 
ceeded Baja California in importance, and ordered 
that the capital of the two provinces be removed 
to Monterey. The governor was to reside at the 
northern city and the lieutenant-governor at Lo- 
reto, the former capital. California had asserted 
its supremacy, and as time passed its lead over the 
older province was to be vastly increased. 

Felipe de Neve was the first governor who re- 
sided at the new capital. For seven years he pre- 
sided over the destinies of the province with 
marked success. About the time he took office a 
new arrangement went into effect in Mexico by 
which the northwest provinces, including the two 
Californias, were joined in a district under a 
comandante-general. This resulted in a great 
deal of local independence for the governor of 
the upper province. Felipe de Neve was well 
qualified to carry this responsibility. He was nat- 
urally of a judicial mind and was constantly plan- 
ning and executing measures which would better 
the conditions of the people under his charge. 

The greatest of his many tasks was to straighten 
out the tangles in the governmental system of Cal- 
ifornia. This he found in confusion, with the 
representatives of the church, the army, and the 
civil authority each striving for the mastery. He 



The Spanish Period 77 

drew up and promulgated a codified plan or reg~ 
lamento which settled these vexing questions, and 
brought a semblance of order into the hitherto 
existing chaos. A second service he rendered the 
province was his superintendence of the establish- 
ment of the pueblos. His plan for these, as has 
been seen, was excellent and it was not through 
any fault of De Neve that the achievement was 
not as commendable. 

The administration of De Neve was marked by 
a peculiarly acute quarrel between the governor 
and the indomitable churchman, Serra. De Neve's 
predecessors, Fages and Rivera, whenever they 
had presumed to cross the friar in his purposes, 
had been swept aside with scant courtesy. But in 
De Neve, the Father-President found a more diffi- 
cult problem. The cause of the disagreement was 
the right to administer confirmation to the neo- 
phytes. By the civil and ecclesiastical law this 
power was confined to the bishops. Serra was not 
a bishop and he felt that, as it was very unlikely 
that any bishop would visit California with suffi- 
cient frequency to administer the rite of confir- 
mation to the thousands who would desire it, he 
should be granted the power. He succeeded in 
securing the grant through the Franciscan College 
of San Fernando and proceeded to administer con- 
firmation to the Indians in large numbers. De 
Neve, having had no advices of this extraordinary 
grant of power, and no doubt questioning the wis- 



78 The Story of California 

dom of receiving this multitude of savages into 
the church membership, questioned the authority 
of the President. Serra, sure of his position and 
not wishing to recognize the right of the civil 
authority to inquire into his acts, paid no atten- 
tion to the request, and continued to administer the 
rite. De Neve issued an order suspending all 
confirmations, and reported the matter to the 
comandante-general. This official, knowing of 
the authority granted to Serra, ordered the latter 
to show his papers to De Neve and settle the mat- 
ter at once. But Serra, for some reason unmen- 
tioned, had sent the papers down to the College of 
San Fernando. It is difficult to find a worthy 
motive for this action on the part of the mis- 
sionary, and all the evidence points to an uncom- 
mendable desire to humiliate the governor, a pur- 
pose which failed because of the latter's self- 
control throughout the whole affair. 

Naturally a man of De Neve's ability could not 
remain long at a post relatively so unimportant 
as the governorship of California, and in 1782 he 
succeeded to the position of comandante-general 
of the northwestern provinces, where unfortu- 
nately he lived to serve only a few months. His 
successor in California was Serra's old enemy 
Pedro Fages, who triumphed at last by living to 
see himself in authority over the very California 
from which Serra had secured his removal in 
earlier years. 



The Spanish Period 79 

Fages was a well-meaning soldier, conscientious 
in the discharge of his duty, but of little intellec- 
tual capacity. The friars found little difficulty in 
circumventing him, as is well illustrated by the 
circumstances attending the founding of the three 
Channel missions. De Neve had offered no oppo- 
sition to San Buenaventura for that was in the 
original plan. But his appreciation of the mission 
system was not so great that he would look with 
favor on two other establishments in that region. 
He refused to allow them unless the industrial 
system was so modified that the Indians would 
not be required to live at the missions except a 
few at a time and for short periods. This ar- 
rangement the friars claimed to be unworkable and 
refused to be stationed at the new missions under 
these conditions, which suited De Neve very well. 
But Fages had not been long in office when all 
three of the Channel missions were established 
under exactly the same plan as the older institu- 
tions. 

On Fages' resignation in 1790, Jose Antonio 
Romeu was appointed to succeed him. He lived to 
serve only about one year during all of which he 
was too ill to take any active part in affairs. Jose 
Joaquin de Arrillaga took charge of the province 
as acting governor until 1794, when Diego de 
Borica arrived with a commission as governor. 

Borica possessed a joyous disposition, was pop- 
ular and influential, and is the first man reported 



80 The Story of California 

to have become ultra-enthusiastic over California 
life. He declared in a letter to a friend, " one 
lives better here than in the most cultured court 
in Europe." This may have been true, but it is 
probably no less true that Diego was of those 
who would have a good time anywhere. He was, 
however, a good worker and as firm as De Neve 
in his attitude toward the missionaries. His rela- 
tions with them were not, however, of such a char- 
acter as to retard mission development. On the 
contrary, soon after he came into office the exten- 
sion of the mission activities received fresh impe- 
tus. It had lagged somewhat under the two pre- 
vious administrations, but Father-President Las- 
uen who succeeded Serra as head of the system, 
worked in conjunction with Borica and Rve new 
missions were established within two years. 

California's progress had always been a matter 
of small moment to the great world outside, but 
in the first decade of the nineteenth century she 
was almost forgotten. The great storm of the 
Napoleonic wars had burst over Europe and its 
violent effects were not unfelt along the Atlantic 
seaboard of this continent. The world had no 
time to think of the far away territory on the 
shores of the Pacific, and California did not seem 
to notice the neglect; in fact she did not think 
about the world. Though Napoleon was for a 
time in complete control of Spain, his conquest of 
the mother country had no effect on California 




Courtesy of Charles Scribner's Sons 



SPANISH MAP OF 1787. SHOWING MISSIONS, 
PRESIDIOS, AND ROUTES 

(From "The Making of the Great West") 



The Spanish Period 81 

further than to cause ceaseless prayers for the 
restoration of the rightful monarch. 

When restoration did come, Spain's great colo- 
nial empire had been so long neglected that it was 
impossible to revive it. The revolution which 
freed Mexico was well under way, and the shat- 
tered power of Spain could not hope to stretch 
its arm across the wide Atlantic and quell it. 

For ten years the struggle continued, but it was 
always hopeless, and in 1821 Mexico became in- 
dependent and carried California with it. Such 
was the great sweep of events in the first two 
decades of the last century, in which California 
took no part, but in consequence of which she 
came under a new sovereignty. 

In 1800 Borica resigned and was succeeded by 
Arrillaga who had before acted as governor. 
His administration covered fourteen years and was 
marked by the good feeling which existed between 
the civil and the religious authorities. This new 
turn of affairs was caused by Arrillaga's percep- 
tion of the fact that the province must soon depend 
upon the missions for its food supply. Long be- 
fore the end of his rule supplies and pay had 
ceased to come up the coast from Mexico. The 
presidios, and to a great extent the pueblos, faced 
starvation, but the missions had plenty of cattle 
and wheat and other foodstuffs. There was but 
one course open to the governor and he followed 
it. He forced the missions to turn over their great 



82 The Story of California 

surplus production in return for drafts upon the 
Spanish government. The missionaries objected 
seriously at first but finally came to see that it was 
the only thing to do, and at the time of the down- 
fall of the Spanish regime they held utterly worth- 
less paper of a face value of over $400,000. 

Though Spain could no longer pay her soldiers 
nor supply the province with necessary articles, 
she could still fill its offices. Upon Arrillaga's 
death in 18 14, Pablo Vicente de Sola arrived to 
take over the administration of affairs. He was 
a Spaniard, an officer in the royal army, and 
utterly unfitted for the task he had been sent to per- 
form. He was a martinet without ability and had 
come to California at a time when the problems 
facing the civil administration were the most diffi- 
cult in her history. 

It was not until four years after Sola's arrival, 
and not until three years before the independence 
of Mexico became an accomplished fact, that Cal- 
ifornia felt any of the throes of the revolution in 
New Spain, other than the lack of supplies. In 
18 18 there appeared off Monterey two vessels 
flying the flag of the revolted province of Buenos 
Aires. These vessels carried a force of 285 men 
under the command of the rebel leader Bouchard. 
The morning after their arrival they began bom- 
barding the town. Though the command on shore 
consisted of but forty men, the cannon of the pre- 
sidio were served so well in reply that the smaller 



The Spanish Period 83 

ship was silenced for a time at least. Bouchard 
at once landed his men and the Spanish defenders 
were driven back into the presidio. The revolu- 
tionists then started in to plunder and burn and 
many of the houses in the town were destroyed. 
The next morning they embarked and sailed away 
much to the relief of the still loyal inhabitants. 

These vessels stopped at several other points 
along the coast where more burning and pillaging 
was done. They finally sailed away from San 
Juan Capistrano on December 15 and were seen 
no more. The object of this visit of Bouchard's 
has been the subject of much speculation. It was 
evidently not to conquer the country, because he 
did not do it. Certainly there was no force on 
hand which could have successfully resisted him 
if such had been his purpose. Plunder can hardly 
have been the motive for while the crews pillaged 
wherever they stopped, they could have done 
much more than they did, if they had been so 
minded. Probably Bouchard was not of a pirat- 
ical turn of mind and was simply looking for 
the prestige in his own country which comes from 
having struck a blow at the public enemy in a far 
off quarter of the globe. 

Two years after this incident, in 1820, there 
was submitted to the people of California the 
Constitution of 1812, which had been forced upon 
Fernando VII by the Mexican revolutionists. The 
officers and citizens of the province took the oath 



84 The Story of California 

of allegiance to it without objection or question. 
Less than a year afterward Iturbide proclaimed 
the independence of Mexico in February of 1821. 
The regency of which he was the head was estab- 
lished in September of that year. The news of 
the declaration did not reach California until 
December, and Governor Sola referred to the 
document which brought him official notice of 
occurrences in Mexico as having been written in a 
land of dreamers, as independence was a dream. 

In March, however, there came the news of 
Iturbide's complete success and the establishment 
of the regency which was to hold the reins of gov- 
ernment until a member of the Spanish royal fam- 
ily should arrive to take the throne. This put a 
new face on the matter and Sola immediately called 
a junta at Monterey. This unofficial gathering of 
the leaders of the province recognized the depen- 
dency of California upon Mexico and resolved to 
obey the regency. Again an oath to support the 
new government was taken without protest from 
any quarter. 

But changes were following each other with 
great rapidity in the governmental affairs of Mex- 
ico and the efforts of the Californians to keep pace 
with them became almost ludicrous. In July news 
was received that Iturbide had had himself pro- 
claimed Emperor Agustin I. He had promised 
to pay all the moneys due to the troops and the 
missions and this promise secured his immediate 



1 The Spanish Period 85 

and unqualified acceptance in the province. The 
flag of the new empire was substituted for that 
of Spain with all the celebration customary on such 
great occasions. If there was any regret at the 
step among any portion of the inhabitants, it was 
completely lost in the festivities. 

For almost three years, California did not 
again have to change her allegiance. But in 1825 
word was received of the establishment of the 
federal constitution of the previous year. Gov- 
ernor Luis Antonio Arguello who had been acting 
since the beginning of the Mexican sway, called 
another junta. This body was more conservative 
than its predecessor; and was not acting under the 
excitement caused by a promise of the new govern- 
ment to pay off all the old indebtedness. It re- 
solved to hold aloof until the real trend of affairs 
could become known. A provisional government 
was promulgated but never established, for upon 
the receipt of further news and the full text of 
the new constitution, the junta advised submission 
to the new republic. The oath of allegiance was 
taken as cheerfully as former ones had been and 
with all the usual ceremonies, except the religious 
features, for Prefect Sarria declined to sanction 
republicanism. 

The new constitution was modeled after that 
of the United States, and made California a ter- 
ritory of the new Republic of Mexico. This was 
highly satisfactory to the great majority of the 



86 The Story of California 

Californians who in all their rapid changes of 
allegiance had not seen the property rights of any- 
individual disturbed, nor the position of any office- 
holder threatened. A more peaceful shift from 
the monarchical to the republican form of govern- 
ment was probably never effected in any country. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE MISSION SYSTEM 

IT is apparent from the recital of the events of 
* the Spanish period that the principal work of 
the local civil authorities of California was to 
maintain their position as an equal factor with the 
missions. While they succeeded to a certain ex- 
tent in doing this, the real dominating force in 
early California was the mission organization. 
The civil and military portion of the settlements 
could have been removed with little effect upon 
the history or development of the country ; to have 
taken the missions away from Spanish California 
would have left nothing. The understanding of 
the spirit of these institutions, therefore, becomes 
a matter of first importance in studying the his- 
tory of the early period. 

After the ceremonies attendant upon the found- 
ing of a mission had been performed and the 
neighboring Indians had been persuaded to lay 
aside their fears and exchange gifts with the mis- 
sionaries, the founding party left the new estab- 
lishment in charge of two friars. Upon these 
two lone strangers fell the duty of winning the 
confidence of the natives, converting, baptizing, 
and teaching them. Their main instrument of suc- 

87 



88 The Story of California 

cess was their zeal, and their sole protection 
against the violence of the more savage aborigines 
two or three soldiers of very questionable brav- 
ery or efficiency. 

Their equipment consisted of some cattle, tools, 
seeds, and a supply of vestments and holy vessels 
for the formalities of worship. Least valuable 
but perhaps of most importance at that stage of 
the work were the numerous trinkets and articles 
of cheap clothing which were given to the natives. 
The friars always maintained that the only way 
to the native heart was through the native stomach 
and pride in personal adornment. It was by these 
gifts of material blessings that the trust of these 
simple people was first won. During this process 
the friars continued to hold religious services reg- 
ularly, in full view of the wondering natives, who 
gradually evinced an interest in the proceedings. 
A method of communication was established, half 
signs, half words. As soon as they began some- 
what to understand each other, the friars pre- 
vailed upon the Indians to set up their houses in 
the immediate neighborhood of the mission. 
Seeds were given them and they were shown how 
to plant them, how they should be cared for, and 
how the blessings of harvest followed. 

During all this instruction in agricultural mat- 
ters, a steady influence was exerted upon those 
who had settled near the mission to uplift their 
standards of morality. Then followed as a mat- 



The Mission System 89 

ter of course the instruction in religion. This at 
first was merely a teaching of forms and was indic- 
ative of nothing more than imitation on the part 
of the natives. It is probable, however, that in a 
short time the friars were enabled to select a few 
of the more intelligent of the converts and instill 
into their minds some real conception of the truths 
and mysteries of religion. These leaders in their 
turn, using the native language, passed on to their 
less intelligent brethren the wonderful knowledge 
they had gained. In this way the influence spread 
from the friars to the keener few among the na- 
tives, from these to the larger mass of their fel- 
lows, and from these in turn to the great body of 
the gentilidad, as the friars called the unconverted 
Indians. 

In larger and larger numbers these benighted 
ones flocked to the mission rancherias to place 
themselves under the leavening influence, and 
larger grew the body of neophytes who looked 
to the friars for guidance and command. The 
work of bringing the light of thought and intelli- 
gent action to these unenlightened souls was in- 
spiring. Aspiration grew with success. A splendid 
church must be erected in which God might be 
worshiped with all the splendor that could be 
brought into this barren desert. So, acting as 
their own architects, pressing the soldiers into 
service as foremen, the friars marshalled this 
army of workers and proceeded to the erection of 



90 The Story of California 

the beautiful mission churches some few of which 
remain today. How these crude aborigines, under 
the superintendence of a handful of guardsmen, 
and guided by a few friars, ever succeeded in 
erecting edifices of such substantial and lasting 
beauty is a marvel. 

The church completed and the ceremonial vest- 
ments and vessels installed, the security and even 
affluence of their position began to impress them- 
selves upon the friars. They had begun to realize 
their influence. Now that they had their church, 
they felt the need of other buildings such as dor- 
mitories, dining-rooms, storerooms, stables and 
sheds. One after another these wants were real- 
ized. The friars laid out a plan and as the va- 
rious buildings were constructed they were made 
to conform to it. Gradually this plan began to 
show in its completeness. The quite frequent 
earthquakes led to the adoption of a comparatively 
low type of structure. The fear of attack by hos- 
tile Indians suggested the form of a hollow square 
for the group of buildings. The love of the beau- 
tiful in the hearts of the leaders refused to tol- 
erate the unsightly appearance of a square of 
ugly adobe walls, so they were first covered with a 
cleaner, smoother sort of adobe. Even this was 
too plain and inartistic and the arched corridor 
around the entire inner side of the square was 
evolved. The thatched roof of early times was 
found to afford an easy means by which attacking 



The Mission System 91 

bands of Indians could set fire to the mission 
buildings and a home-manufactured red tile was 
substituted. Thus the mission buildings assumed 
the outward form which we of today know from 
their ruins. The process consumed from ten to 
twenty-five years in all. 

The Mission of San Juan Capistrano affords a 
typical example of the arrangement of all of the 
missions; for while no two were alike in details, 
all were constructed on the same general plan. At 
San Juan the church occupied a slight eminence 
from which its grandeur rather dwarfed the re- 
mainder of the establishment, vast as it was. The 
church was at the corner of the great quadrangle 
around which were grouped the other mission 
buildings. It is perhaps inaccurate to speak of 
them as buildings for they were in fact all one 
structure, though the various parts had been built 
from time to time as they were needed. 

On the left from the church stretched the long 
low portion of the edifice which housed the va- 
rious industrial equipments — the hat-factory, the 
candle-factory, and other workrooms. At the 
far end of this wing, opposite the church was a 
building, not a part of the quadrangle, containing 
guest rooms, the major-domo's quarters, guard- 
house and arsenal. A passage through the wing 
at the left of the church led into the great central 
court which was about a hundred yards square 
and entirely surrounded by the arched cloisters. 



92 The Story of California 

To the right were the large dining rooms, wine- 
cellars, and assembly-room. Behind these and the 
church were the cemetery, storehouses, and vege- 
table garden. The other two sides of the court 
were occupied by store-rooms and shops — car- 
penter's, blacksmith's, shoemaker's — and the oil- 
press, fermenting-vats, and large rooms where 
there were stored quantities of hides, tallow, and 
wines. The huts of the neophytes were built in 
close proximity to the mission. 

In addition to the construction of buildings, 
fields must be tilled, planted, cultivated, irrigated, 
and their harvests garnered. Orchards must be 
cared for and their fruit picked and stored. Pro- 
visions must be hauled to the presidios. The in- 
numerable trades that are the indispensable ac- 
companiment of large civilized communities must 
have their artisans. Schools for the children both 
of Indian and of white parents were conducted. 
And last and most important of all the frequently 
recurring religious services must be strictly per- 
formed. 

A glance at the life at one of the missions for 
a day brings out this varied activity. At sunrise 
the bells, swung in the tower of the church or a 
special belfry, called the whole community to 
prayers. Then followed the mass and brief relig- 
ious instruction. The married natives dispersed to 
their homes for breakfast, while the unmarried 
were provided for in a large common dining-hall. 



The Mission System 93 

For both classes, however, the meal was the same; 
simply a bowl of maize-gruel or atole. After the 
meal, every member of the community took up 
his allotted task. No one was idle. To the minds 
of the friars it was essential that everyone should 
be constantly employed either in religious or indus- 
trial duties. Some departed to the mountains to 
hunt in order to furnish meat for the tables. 
Large gangs went to the fields, orchards, and vine- 
yards in charge of alcaldes or native foremen to 
tend the crops. The artisans took up the pursuit 
of their various simple trades, such as shoemaking, 
carpentering, brick-making, leather- working. At 
eleven o'clock work was discontinued until two 
in the afternoon. This allowed three hours for 
dinner and rest, after which the tasks were taken 
up again and, under the watchful eye of the 
alcalde, pursued diligently until the sound of the 
angelus floated out over the fields an hour before 
sunset and announced the end of the day's toil. 
Prayers and the telling of beads on the rosary 
preceded supper. Various mild amusements, even 
including dancing, passed the evening until bed- 
time. The primitive Indian dances and music 
gave way to religious chants as the voices became 
trained. On special festival days extra religious 
services were observed. 

The friars portioned out all the necessaries of 
life to their charges, whose dress consisted of a 
coarse linen shirt, pantaloons, shoes and a blanket. 



94 The Story of California 

The food was similarly meagre and plain, consist- 
ing mainly of barley, corn meal, and vegetables, 
with occasionally fresh beef or mutton, and meal- 
cakes or tortillas. 

The children of both the Indian and the white 
race were carefully schooled along industrial and 
religious lines. There were a number of half- 
breed children at each mission, for the friars as 
early as Serra's time had encouraged the soldiers 
to marry Indian women — advice which had gen- 
erally been followed. Beside the services of relig- 
ion and the rudiments of some trade the children 
were also taught something of music. This was 
instrumental as well as vocal, the flute, violin and 
cello being the favorite instruments ; but for either 
voice or strings the kind of music furnished was 
almost entirely sacred. The Indian girls dwelt 
apart, in a seclusion approaching that of the con- 
vent, under the care of Indian matrons. They 
were instructed in the art of weaving wool, cot- 
ton, and flax garments. 

The Indians were not compensated for their 
labor except by instruction, for, under the guid- 
ance and suggestion of the friars, the land and all 
its products belonged to the natives with no 
thought of ownership on the part of the mission- 
aries. This arrangement was never abandoned 
in theory, but so docile were their charges and so 
readily did they respond to the slightest suggestion 
on the part of their teachers that these suggestions 



The Mission System 95 

soon began to take the form of commands. The 
commands were as readily obeyed as the sug- 
gestions had been followed, and it does not take 
long for ready obedience to breed in him who 
commands the demand for obedience as a mat- 
ter of right. Such was the case with the Fran- 
ciscans. They began to command; even to pun- 
ish for disobedience. They flogged those who 
would not obey. They even used the soldiers to 
pursue into the wilderness those who were so re- 
fractory that they had run away, and to bring 
them back again under the yoke. 

This condition was far indeed from the ideal 
of Father Junipero and Saint Francis. To such 
holy men the idea of flogging a refractory Indian 
would have been utterly repugnant. They would 
have found gentler means for winning him. It 
was part of the system such men had bequeathed 
to their order that no Franciscan should have any- 
thing of this world's goods; yet here were their 
successors living on the fat of the land with verit- 
ably hundreds of human beings rendering obedi- 
ence to their orders. This assumption of tem- 
poral position had even gone so far that on cer- 
tain days special religious services were held in 
which each neophyte as his name was called was 
required to come forward and kiss the friar's 
hand. 

For this ceremony some plausible reasoning was 
advanced as to the friars representing the power 



96 The Story of California 

and beneficence of the church, but the fact re- 
mains that it was a great departure from the 
spirit and early traditions of the order, and that 
it gave to them a far higher position than was 
consistent with their claims. And this was typical 
of the later Franciscan thought in California. 
The friars ruled well and for the benefit of their 
native charges, but rule they must, and that ab- 
solutely. 

An illustration of this position occurs in the 
matter of Indian officials. The laws of the colony 
required an alcalde and several regidores to be 
elected each year by the native population of each 
mission. The friars always objected to this, and 
in 1792 discontinued it on their own initiative. 
Governor Borica insisted on its being restored in 
1796 but the padres made the elections a farce. 
They always insisted that they were acting in loco 
parentis toward the aborigines and therefore as- 
sumed absolute authority to do anything that 
might seem to them for the benefit of their 
charges. That the civil officials were not the 
only ones who resented this is demonstrated by 
the tendency which became marked at an early 
date among the Indian neophytes to run away 
from the missions. 

Widely differing views prevail as to the con- 
ditions at the missions at the height of their 
power, and of the results of their work. Catholic 
writers point to them as a splendid example of 



The Mission System 97 

the noble self-sacrifice of the members of one of 
the orders in their church, and can see in the 
results nothing but what is good; nothing but 
that tended to the enlightening, the civilizing and 
the salvation of the native Indian. Governor 
Arrillaga is less fulsome in his report. While he 
does not believe the mission system achieved the 
perfection its sponsors claim for it, he still be- 
lieves it good, that the friars are in the main 
sensible and honest men, and the natives as a 
rule well-treated. La Perouse, a Frenchman, and 
other travelers who visited California in the days 
of mission supremacy, find on the other hand 
much to criticise. They go so far as to point 
out many resemblances between the mission meth- 
ods and the slave plantation system of Santo 
Domingo. There are in fact instances of cruelty 
to support this comparison. 

Probably the true estimate of the missions lies 
between the extremes, though just where cannot 
be accurately determined. That many acts of 
the friars which seem inexplicable when set out 
by themselves were due to the poor quality of the 
human material with which they worked is doubt- 
less true. Vancouver described the natives as the 
most miserable beings he had ever seen possessing 
the faculty of human reason. He praised the 
friars and noted the attachment of the natives for 
them, but saw no advantage attending their con- 
version. La Perouse, too, praises the friars but 



98 The Story of California 

thinks their work is hopeless. The native is too 
much of a child ever to receive any benefit from 
conversion. He suggests that more time spent 
in dispelling the ignorance of this life and less in 
expatiating on the beauties of the life to come 
would show a better result. It is unquestionably 
true that the friars, in their zeal to make Chris- 
tians of the natives, neglected to make men of 
them first. Whether they ever could have done 
this had they devoted their labors to that end is 
extremely doubtful. 

In one direction however, the friars were 
largely at fault. This was in the matter of health 
and sanitation. There was little knowledge of 
the science of medicine, and apparently little at- 
tempt to gain any. Too often there existed on 
the part of both the friars and the neophytes an 
indifference to curative processes and even to the 
simplest laws of health. The death rate among 
the mission Indians reached a figure which in an 
outdoor people to us seems unbelievable. Some 
critics attributed this to the lack of substantial 
food, but Father Lasuen vigorously denied this 
and claimed that the mission Indians were always 
fatter than the gentiles. It is nevertheless a fact 
that contagious diseases ran their course with 
frightful results and decimated the population. 
In 1 80 1 a pulmonary epidemic on the Channel 
Coast reached such proportions that it caused 



The Mission System 99 

the survivors to turn for a time against the friars 
and their white man's God. 

In spite of the position in which the mission- 
aries had established themselves, they were not 
wholly free from worldly cares. Several incidents 
are worthy of mention, not because of their in- 
dividual importance but to make more complete 
the picture of the life at the missions. In 1776 
a tribe of gentile Indians near San Luis Obispo 
wished to revenge themselves on a neighboring 
tribe which was friendly to the Spaniards. The 
means which they chose to carry out their de- 
sign was to shoot burning arrows upon the tule 
roofs of the mission. Several of the buildings 
were destroyed by the flames before the fire could 
be extinguished. 

The Indians within the walls were often as 
much to be feared as those without. In 1801 one 
of the friars at San Miguel died under circum- 
stances which strongly indicated poisoning by the 
neophytes, and in the same year there was a 
proven case of poisoning, though not fatal, of a 
friar at San Diego. 

One of the greatest tragedies in mission his- 
tory occurred in 1812 at San Juan Capistrano. It 
was Sunday morning and the people including 
hundreds of dusky neophytes, had gathered in 
the beautiful church which was the pride of all 
the missions. In the midst of the service, came 
a rumble and then a crash. The stones and tim- 



100 The Story of California 

bers of the roof came crushing upon the helpless 
worshippers who fled in wild dismay from the 
doomed building. In a few minutes the earth- 
quake was over but it had done its work, destroy- 
ing forever the finest piece of mission architecture 
in California, and there lay buried beneath its 
ruins the bodies of forty of those who helped to 
build it. 

The era of Mexican independence made the 
lot of the neophytes still harder, for by this sever- 
ance of the ties which bound New Spain to the 
Old, the strong central guiding authority of the 
missions was relaxed. The friars became more 
and more sensible of their inability longer to 
maintain their position. Heavier and heavier 
grew the burdens and less and less the compen- 
sations of the unfortunate neophytes. These 
wrongs became so unbearable that in 1824, a 
widespread revolt took place. This movement 
had its inception at Santa Inez Mission but plans 
had evidently been widely laid, for it immediately 
broke out at others of the central establishments 
and many lives were sacrificed before it was finally 
quelled. 

Because of the many substantial things the mis- 
sion system accomplished it is very generally con- 
ceded to have been a success ; but the standard of 
success in such matters is not the amount accom- 
plished but the degree in which the original pur- 
poses have been carried out. Measured by this 




-~:^ ill 



Courtesy of Arthur B. Benton 

(From The Architect and Engineer) 



The Mission System 101 

standard the mission system, like the other two 
instruments of Spanish occupation, was a failure. 
The original purpose of these establishments was 
to teach, civilize, and christianize the Indians and 
to fit them for citizenship in the Spanish colonies 
of Alta California. At no point in mission his- 
tory was this purpose near accomplishment. The 
Indians never became fitted for citizenship in the 
slightest degree. The moment they were freed 
from the paternal control of the missions they 
lapsed into their primitive barbarism, retaining 
only the vices they had learned from their contact 
with civilization. 

While the missions must be judged a failure, 
and the correctness of this view is confirmed by 
the fact that there lives today no single outgrowth 
of the mission system in the life of the common- 
wealth, they must nevertheless be given not only 
credit but praise for the great things they did ac- 
complish for their own day. They secured the 
first foothold of modern civilization in what is 
now California. They kept in subjection with 
the help of a ridiculously small military force, a 
vast savage population. They built up a produc- 
tive agriculture which for years was the only 
source of supply for the thousands of souls who 
made Spanish California their home. They 
formed the central feature of a community whose 
culture seems strange in our day, but whose domi- 
nant feature was as a rule a serene contentment on 



102 The Story of California 

the part of its almost every member. There is 
much that is consoling to be found in a failure 
which brings in its train such achievements as 
these. 



I 



CHAPTER X 

THE RUSSIANS IN CALIFORNIA 1812-184I 

T will be remembered that one of the reasons 
which prompted the King of Spain to order the 
occupation of Alta California was the fear that 
the Russians, who were at that time working their 
way across Bering Strait on to the American con- 
tinent, would take possession of the country for 
themselves. It was not until 1798, however, that 
an organized body of Russians appeared in Alaska. 
In that year the Russian American Fur Company 
was formed with headquarters at Sitka. At the 
time of its formation Russia and Spain were at 
war, and it was not until four years later that 
peace was declared between the two countries. 

Count Nicolai Petrovich Rezanof was at the 
head of the Alaskan establishment, and when the 
news of peace was received he determined to open 
trade relations with the Spanish Californians and 
for that purpose to establish a station on the 
lower coast. It is possible that he had in mind 
the acquisition of territory for his sovereign, but 
there is nothing upon which an assertion to that 
effect can be based. In 1806 he sailed as far 
south as San Francisco Bay and entered into ne- 

103 



104 The Story of California 

godations with the comandante at that port for 
permission to trade with the people. It was 
against the royal regulations for the Californians 
to trade with anybody and of course Arguello, the 
comandante, could do nothing official toward 
granting Rezanof's wish. 

The Russian, however, was determined to suc- 
ceed. The commandant had a daughter, Dona 
Concepcion, who was a very charming young 
woman and the Count was an affable man. Be- 
fore long an attachment sprang up which soon 
ripened into an engagement. Incidentally the 
father winked at the commercial transactions 
which were being carried on under his very eyes 
between the vessel of his prospective son-in-law 
and the people of his district. His anger was 
not even aroused when the foreigners took otter 
in great numbers in the very bay of San Francisco. 
This practice was of course strictly prohibited, but 
perhaps the commandant thought it was not worth 
while to protest, especially when he had no boats 
with which to prevent it. His cargo disposed of, 
Count Rezanof sailed away to the north leaving 
his betrothed to await his return. This was des- 
tined never to take place for he was recalled to 
Saint Petersburg and died on his way across 
Siberia. It was never known, therefore, whether 
his infatuation for Dona Concepcion was genuine 
or entirely for commercial ends. The young 
woman, however, remained true to her Russian 



The Russians in California 105 

lover and never married, though she lived for 
many years. 

Six years after the visit of Rezanof, the Rus- 
sians purchased from the Indians for " three 
blankets, three pairs of breeches, three hoes, two 
axes and some trinkets " a site on the shores of 
Bodega Bay about fifty miles north of San Fran- 
cisco. Nearly twenty years before, in 1793, the 
Spaniards had made an abortive attempt to es- 
tablish a colony on this same spot but their ex- 
pedition amounted to little more than a recon- 
noissance. The Russians were more successful and 
actually established a settlement. 

Their principal stronghold in California was 
still further north at what became known as Fort 
Ross, and was founded September 10, 18 12. The 
Russian governor took up his official residence 
there and it soon became quite a thriving settle- 
ment. The town was situated on a table land 
about ten or twelve miles north of the mouth of 
the Russian River, on the top of a high bluff on 
the seacoast, and in its rear Were deep ravines. 
This made it difficult of access from any direction, 
and therefore easily protected from hostile na- 
tives. 

The fort itself was a rectangular stockade about 
250 by 300 feet and constructed of thick beams 
set upright in the ground with cross beams along 
the top, which was from twelve to fifteen feet 
from the ground. The top was spiked and loop- 



106 The Story of California 

holes were frequent. At opposite corners were 
two hexagonal towers upon which cannon were 
mounted. Within the stockade were located the 
commander's house, the officers' quarters, bar- 
racks, chapel, storehouses and offices. Some of 
these buildings were two stories in height and 
the commander's house was even furnished with 
glass windows. The chapel was decorated with 
oil paintings and all the buildings presented a 
neat and well-kept appearance. The whole struc- 
ture was of redwood with the exception of a few 
adobe huts occupied by natives. It was easily the 
strongest post in California and need not have 
feared any attack which either Indians or Spanish 
Californians could have brought against it. It 
was however never attacked. Surrounding the 
fort proper were many huts of the Aleuts and 
natives, which they made an effort to keep clean 
in imitation of the Russians. Also there were 
wind-mill, farm-buildings, granaries, cattle-yards, 
tannery and buildings for other industries. 

The settlement itself on the material side was 
a very creditable establishment, which is the more 
remarkable in view of the personnel of the settlers. 
The men, with the exception of the officers, were 
of a low and often of the criminal class: it was 
necessary at all times to maintain the strictest dis- 
cipline in order that the settlement should be quiet 
and orderly. Except for a few officers' wives in 
later years, no Russian women came to the settle- 



The Russians in California 107 

ment at all. The settlers and Aleuts intermarried 
to some extent with the native women. 

On the religious side there was a strong con- 
trast with the Spanish settlements to the south 
which were wholly dominated by the priesthood 
and its institutions. The Russian colony had not 
even a regular chaplain or priest, but one of the 
officers was authorized to administer the sacra- 
ments of baptism, marriage and burial. Rome 
and Constantinople had made their way around 
the world in opposite directions to meet again on 
the shores of the Pacific, and in religious propa- 
gandism at least, Rome had shown herself far 
superior. 

The ostensible object of these settlements by 
the Russians was to provide agricultural products 
for the Fur Company in Alaska. Whether Rus- 
sia wished to acquire large territories in Cali- 
fornia we have no means of knowing. During 
the Mexican revolution she had a splendid op- 
portunity to do so, but no attempt was made to 
take advantage of it. Still later, in 1835, Wran- 
gell, the Russian commander, tried to secure more 
territory by negotiation with the Californians. 
Permission was granted him to erect a warehouse 
at Sausalito, but he was unsuccessful in his at- 
tempt to acquire more territory. 

Whatever the Russian design was in the mat- 
ter, the Spaniards were firm in their own belief 
that the acquisition of territory was their object. 



108 The Story of California 

In order to prevent the Russian advance to the 
southward two new missions were erected north 
of San Francisco Bay. These were San Rafael 
( 1 817) and San Francisco Solano at Sonoma 
(1823). The Spanish authorities stoutly pro- 
tested that the establishment of these missions had 
nothing to do with the Russian settlements. They 
had frequently ordered the Russians to leave 
Spanish territory but had never been able to en- 
force the orders and naturally did not wish to 
admit that they had to call upon the missionaries 
to furnish means for preventing further encroach- 
ments. They gave out as the real reason for the 
move the unhealthfulness of the San Francisco 
peninsula and the desire for a better location, 
stating that if Fort Ross was thought of at all 
in connection with the founding of the northern 
missions it was only as an available market for 
their produce. 

At any rate trade immediately sprang up be- 
tween the colonists of the two nations, though 
all sorts of subterfuges had to be employed to 
circumvent the authorities in their attempts to 
enforce the restrictions against trade. Commer- 
cial relations were not to be stopped however; 
they were an economic necessity. The Russians 
needed the agricultural products of their southern 
neighbors who found no less desirable the manu- 
factured products of the northerners which had 
become quite extensive and varied. The prin- 



The Russians in California 109 

cipal materials were wood, iron and leather, and 
practically all of the output went to supply the 
California market. Several boats were built for 
Spanish officers and friars. Timber and tules were 
sent south and even to the Sandwich Islands. 
Pitch and meat were shipped to Alaska in home 
made barrels. Because of the very limited mar- 
ket however these industries were more useful 
than profitable. 

The profits of the fur trade, while reported 
large, were never good except for a few years. 
The agricultural development was never suffi- 
ciently successful to more than supply the home 
demand. No attempt whatever was made to 
occupy and cultivate the vast fertile lands of the 
interior. The reason for this was probably two- 
fold: the danger from Indian attack and the in- 
evitable antagonism which such a course would 
have met from the Spanish-Californians. The 
latter was the more serious because it might have 
resulted in the loss of the California trade, which 
was the chief source of profit to the struggling 
colony. 

Even as it was, the jealousy of the southerners 
was never overcome. In 1835 Father Jose Guiter- 
rez complained of the " Russians and Anglo- 
Americans. " This led Governor Figueroa to des- 
patch General Mariano Vallejo to Fort Ross to 
investigate. He reported 700 horses, 800 cattle, 
2000 sheep and 60 swine as comprising the live- 



110 The Story of California 

stock of the colony. Two small mills, a primitive 
shipyard and a tannery constituted the industrial 
plant. Governor Figueroa had entrusted General 
Vallejo with messages of good will to the Rus- 
sians, which were no doubt delivered with all the 
suavity and exaggerated politeness of the early 
Californian character, but in his report to the 
Governor upon his return, Vallejo denounces the 
settlers as intruders and violators of the law of 
nations. 

In spite of great efforts the Russian settlement 
was not destined to thrive, and four years more 
sufficed to starve it out. It had never been pros- 
perous and was never a serious menace to the 
Spanish or Mexican possessions. In 1839 a ^ °f 
the personal property of the settlement was sold 
to Captain John A. Sutter for his colony at what 
is now Sacramento. The Captain paid for them 
by means of notes which were far beyond his 
ability to pay, and after two years of waiting the 
Russians left California never to return. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE MEXICAN REGIME 1822-1847 

HHHE kindly despotism of the friars had been the 
* dominating influence in California throughout 
the Spanish period. But it did not take long after 
the change in political masters for the spirit of 
republicanism to pervade the hitherto quiet dis- 
tricts of the Spanish province. Almost simulta- 
neously with the acknowledgment of the sover- 
eignty of Mexico, the center of influence in the 
province shifted from the missions to the towns. 
These were not only increasing in size but in 
number. The nonmilitary residents of Monterey 
and Santa Barbara were organized into pueblos. 
Later the same thing was done at San Francisco. 
At the same time the removal of trade restrictions 
caused a great expansion of commerce of which 
the towns became the centers. 

The missionaries were fully aware that with 
the substitution of a republican for a monarchial 
form of government, it became only a question of 
time when they must be deprived of all secular 
power. This they had expected under the crown 
of Spain, but it was always a far off and vaguely 
possible event until Iturbide's success made it an 
imminent probability. Even then they managed 

ill 



112 The Story of California 

to put off the fatal day and to enjoy the fruits 
of their labors for ten years after the establish- 
ment of the republic. But their star was waning 
and while actual secularization did not come until 
1836, the pueblos had long before that time suc- 
ceeded the missions as the dominating factor in 
the province. 

The conditions existing in these embryo cities 
have already been described to some extent, and 
it will readily be imagined that this change of in- 
fluence was not fraught with any great good for 
the country. The advent of republicanism, or 
rather the unfortunate circumstances that in this 
case accompanied it, converted the always turbu- 
lent and unruly pueblos into hot-beds of unrest, 
disorder, and even open rebellion. The annual 
quota of supplies and pay for the army, already 
dwindling under the last few years of Spanish 
rule, failed altogether under the republic. The 
troops stationed in California were reduced al- 
most to a state of vagabondage. Upon them fell 
the full burden of the change of fortune. The 
increasing commerce enabled the pobladores and 
rancheros to tide over the time of adversity but 
the soldier had nothing to which he could turn 
his hand. 

Another source of never ending trouble to the 
authorities was the constantly increasing tendency 
of the Mexican government to use California as 
a penal colony. Criminals were sent to the prov- 



The Meodcan Regime 113 

ince from all parts of the republic. This policy 
naturally provoked much antagonism on the part 
of the provincials. It gave birth to a feeling of 
bitterness against the home government which 
grew steadily, and prepared the way for the easy 
acquisition of the country by the United States 
twenty years later. 

With a large number of unpaid and idle soldiers 
in a state of mutiny as material upon which hard- 
ened criminals could work, it was not long before 
serious disturbances broke out. Joaquin Solis 
was an exiled criminal who had been sent to Mon- 
terey. He gathered about him a large number of 
malcontents and placing himself at their head set 
out to take matters into his own hands. The 
revolt assumed large proportions and for a time 
all of the northern settlements, including Monterey 
and San Francisco, were in rebel hands. Finally 
Governor Echeandia, who had arrived as the ap- 
pointee of the new republic, succeeded with a 
great deal of difficulty, but without battles or 
bloodshed, in restoring order. 

The new governor had unconsciously set in mo- 
tion a new disintegrating force by stopping at San 
Diego on his arrival in California and announcing 
his intention of making that his residence. There 
was no official transfer of the capital, but as in 
those days the governor was the government, the 
southerners were prone to consider their city as 
the seat of authority. One has only to call to 



114 The Story of California 

mind the intense jealousy between various sections 
of many of the commonwealths of our own day 
to realize the feelings of the Monterenos at this 
uncalled for step. The seeds of sectional rivalry 
were sown and it took but a short time for them 
to grow and bear fruit. 

We have seen how little the people of Cali- 
fornia felt the throes of the revolutions and coun- 
ter-revolutions which took place in Mexico before 
the republic was finally established. For all the 
difference it made to them these internal disturb- 
ances might just as well have been taking place 
in a foreign land. But disorder and unrest at 
the center must have had its effect, nervous or 
psychological, upon the outlying districts. Be- 
fore 1 83 1 California was the most peaceful corner 
of the inhabited world. After that there were 
few months of the Mexican era during which some 
part of the territory was not in a more or less 
open state of rebellion. 

Echeandia was succeeded in January, 1831, by 
Manuel Victoria and the seat of government, ac- 
tual as well as legal, again shifted to the north 
and Monterey came back into its own. But the 
southerners immediately discovered that they were 
oppressed by the new governor, and under the 
leadership of Echeandia, who had remained in 
the country, they rebelled. The governor started 
south to quell the disturbance with an " army " 
of thirty men. He was met in the pass of Ca- 



The Mexican Regime 115 

huenga northwest of Los Angeles by about 150 
men from that city and San Diego. Avila, a 
leader of the southern forces, rode at the north- 
erners with his lance poised. Pacheco, one of 
Victoria's aides, rode out to meet him. In the 
charge they were carried by each other. Avila 
wheeled, drew his pistol, and shot Pacheco through 
the heart. Turning again, he rushed at the gov- 
ernor. Victoria, though sustaining a severe 
wound himself, unhorsed his antagonist and ran 
his sword through his body. This was all the 
fighting which occurred at the battle of Cahuenga, 
for the wounded governor retired and shortly 
afterward surrendered. Echeandia sent him back 
to Mexico. Thus ended the first revolution and 
the first fight between men of Spanish extraction 
on California soil. 

But the end of the first revolution and of the 
first fight did not mean the restoration of author- 
ity, although peace was restored for the time. 
Echeandia claimed to be governor and was sup- 
ported by the south, while in the north, Augustin 
V. Zamorano was proclaimed as the head of the 
government. The attempts of these two to ac- 
quire undisputed possession of the coveted prize 
might have resulted in bloodshed had not their 
hostile armies very carefully avoided each other. 
The leaders finally agreed to divide the territory 
between them until a successor to Victoria should 



116 The Story of California 

arrive from Mexico. The year 1832, therefore, 
passed in tense peace and quiet. 

California as a territory of the new republic 
was entitled to a representative, or disputado, in 
the Mexican Congress. This official was merely 
a lobbyist and had no vote in that body. The 
disputado at this time was Carlos Carillo, a man 
of large plans in which he and his friends were 
to act important parts. To the Congress he had 
loudly sung the praises of the Californians as a 
law-abiding population, and imagined himself on 
the eve of securing tremendous benefits for his 
constituents, when the news of the Echeandia re- 
volt arrived to disturb his dreams and bring his 
work to naught. 

None of the changes in the form of the ter- 
ritorial government, sought by Carillo, were 
made, and Jose Figueroa was despatched to Cali- 
fornia to assume the governorship and end the 
two-headed interregnum. He arrived in the early 
part of 1833 and immediately began to send to 
Mexico letters descriptive of the terribly disor- 
dered state of the country. These were followed 
by others' telling of his own tact and diplomacy in 
overcoming the disturbance, which had really ex- 
isted only in his own mind. One thing he did 
which had a far-reaching effect. This was to in- 
struct Guadalupe Vallejo to establish a garrison, 
town, and colony in the Sonoma Valley. This 
post became the extreme northern settlement of 



The Mexican Regime 117 

the country and was destined to play a picturesque 
part in later events. 

In 1835 the disputado in the Mexican Congress 
secured an order making Los Angeles the capital 
of California Territory and the sectional struggle 
was at once renewed. Great was the excitement 
and disgust among the good people of Monterey. 
They presented a long array of what were to 
them unanswerable arguments against the change. 
When the order was confirmed they refused to 
submit to it. This might have resulted in further 
trouble had not the lack of public spirit among 
the Angelenos, who refused to furnish the neces- 
sary buildings to house the government, allowed 
the matter go by default. Monterey remained the 
seat of authority. 

Feelings antagonistic to Mexico had now be- 
come so strong as to be the dominant factor in 
the California situation. These had had their in- 
ception ten years before in the earliest days of 
the republic when the supply ships ceased to ar- 
rive. It was felt in California that Mexico was 
neglecting the province. The republican govern- 
ment, even after it became firmly established, did 
nothing to allay these sentiments. In fact as we 
have already seen, it did the thing which was most 
likely to increase them, in sending its criminals 
to the territory. The feeling of antagonism, fos- 
tered as it was by constant criticism of the officials 
of the government, grew into an assumption of 



118 The Story of California 

superiority on the part of the Californians. From 
this it was an easy step to irritation at the idea 
that California received nothing from the home 
government and yet had to furnish its share of 
the taxes, bear with an alien rule, and worst of 
all have a Mexican, instead of a Californian, at 
the head of the local government. 

Among the younger and abler Californians the 
conviction was widespread that the territory was 
amply able to furnish its own governor. Noth- 
ing like independence was thought of or suggested 
but it was determined that California should gov- 
ern itself under the republic. The leader of this 
movement was Juan Bautista Alvarado. Seconded 
to some extent by his uncle, Guadalupe Vallejo, 
he organized the " rebel " forces and on Novem- 
ber 5, 1836, captured Monterey, the " enemy's " 
capital, without bloodshed. Carried away by their 
success, the thought of a " lone star flag " may 
have flashed through the victors' minds. But 
these were not such men as found nations. They 
were able men, abounding in patriotism, but lack- 
ing in experience, and they were content to es- 
tablish a local government for California, while 
acknowledging their allegiance to Mexico. In 
this they did well. They removed from the head 
of local affairs a Mexican politician, and substi- 
tuted for him the best men in California. 

But if the northerners were well satisfied with 
the outcome of this " revolution," the Califor- 



The Meatican Regime 119 

nians of the south could see nothing in the whole 
movement but vile sedition. As a matter of fact 
they were no more loyal to Mexico than the north- 
erners but sectional prejudice was too strong for 
them to approve of a northern rebellion by north- 
ern men. Los Angeles knew that the new arrange- 
ment would not bring the capital to the south. Its 
ayuntamiento therefore vigorously denounced the 
acts of Alvarado and his followers as violence and 
treason. This denunciation was followed by an 
invitation to the other southern towns to send 
representatives to Los Angeles to consider the 
situation. In this patriotic purpose the ambitious 
southern metropolis met with the disapproval of 
Santa Barbara. The people of this enterprising 
community had a plan of their own for saving 
the country. Their idea was to have a meeting 
at Santa Barbara of representatives from all parts 
of the territory and to lay aside sectional differ- 
ences. While there is nothing in the public rec- 
ords to that effect, it is hardly probable that the 
good citizens of the channel city had overlooked 
the fact that their situation was central to all parts 
of the state and their city would have made a 
splendid place for a compromise capital. 

But no more came of Santa Barbara's invita- 
tion than of that of Los Angeles, and Alvarado, 
hearing of the counter-revolt in the south, was 
on his way to quell it with twenty-five men. 
When he reached Santa Barbara that city very 



120 The Story of California 

courteously dropped her aspirations for leader- 
ship and furnished him with reinforcements so 
that he departed for Los Angeles with his army 
augmented to a host of no soldiers. On receiv- 
ing the news of the approach of this armament the 
citizens of the Angel City pondered. They were 
very patriotic in their loyalty to Mexico but they 
were also extremely practical in the outward ex- 
pression of that loyalty. They were fond of ne- 
gotiation, diplomacy and bluster, but they cared 
not at all for blows. So they very sensibly de- 
cided that if Alvarado really wanted to be gov- 
ernor enough to come clear down to their gates 
to acquire the office they might as well let him 
have it. Alvarado entered the city peaceably and 
the counter-revolution was subdued without so 
much as a bruised head. 

Such was the situation when news was received 
from Mexico that the government which had been 
established in 1824 had been superseded by the 
constitutional laws of 1836. The new regime 
was promptly and cheerfully accepted in the ter- 
ritory, and the oath of allegiance to the new gov- 
ernment taken amid the great public rejoicing 
which was customary when Mexican California 
swore perpetual allegiance and undying loyalty to 
a new government. 

The lull in the storm of California politics 
which was caused by Alvarado' s prompt action 
and the acceptance of the new sovereignty was 



The Mexican Regime 121 

not destined to last long. October 30, 1837, the 
news reached Monterey that Carlos Carillo, the 
erstwhile disputado, had been appointed provi- 
sional governor. The southerners immediately ac- 
cepted the new official because he was one of 
themselves, but Alvarado did not see fit to turn 
his office over to him, and in this stand he was 
supported by the northerners. California again 
had two governors. Carillo opened hostilities 
and Alvarado sent Jose Castro, his general, south 
to quell this new rebellion. The opposing forces 
met at San Buenaventura, March 28, 1838, with 
about 100 men on each side. After two days of 
continuous firing one man was reported killed. 
Carillo's troops, not being able to withstand this 
slaughter, broke and fled. About seventy men were 
captured in the flight, all of whom except the of- 
ficers were immediately freed. Carillo retired 
to San Diego and Alvarado's forces again occu- 
pied Los Angeles. 

The treaty of Las Flores suspended hostilities 
a second time. The Los Angeles ayuntamiento, 
which almost constantly felt itself called upon to 
save the country either from the tyranny of the 
Mexican government or the madness of the " pa- 
triots " of the north, by a splendid exhibition of 
political agility declared Alvarado to have been 
the rightful governor all along. Carillo did not 
appreciate this and started a conspiracy to regain 
his lost governorship. He was almost immediately 



122 The Story of California 

arrested, but escaped and fled, ignominiously end- 
ing his ambitious career. 

Alvarado, again master in California, had 
yet to reckon with Mexico. He was a rebel against 
his country and guilty of treason. If the self- 
appointed governor had any fears on this subject, 
they were quieted by the proclamation of general 
amnesty which arrived in California in November. 
This proclamation was calculated effectually to 
put an end to the rebellion in the territory, for it 
concluded by appointing the chief of the rebels, 
Alvarado himself, as governor. This was an un- 
usual method of quelling a rebellion but in the 
present instance it is probable that no better move 
could have been made. The time was ripe for 
the selection of a governor from California's own 
sons, and among these no better man could have 
been found than Alvarado. He represented the 
best class of citizenship, and was popular among 
all classes; he was a young man of considerable 
ability and his administration was the most bril- 
liant of any during the Mexican period. 

Its most important feature was the drawing to- 
gether of the quarreling factions in the territory 
and the diffusion of a better feeling among the 
people of the different sections. The matter of 
the location of the capital remained a sore sub- 
ject, however, and Alvarado himself stirred up a 
great deal of antagonism by quarreling with his 
uncle, Guadalupe Vallejo, who had been made 



The Mexican Regime 123 

commandant of the military forces of the terri- 
tory. Both claimed the supreme authority and 
each was loath to surrender any portion of his 
claim. But these were merely unpleasant inci- 
dents in a successful administration of six years. 

Another important feature of this administra- 
tion, and one which constantly assumed more im- 
portance as the years went by, was the increasing 
influence of foreigners. This feature inevitably 
led to the question of the probability of foreign 
interference with the government of the territory, 
or even its conquest. But there was no ill-feeling 
engendered, and no excitement followed the sug- 
gestion. The foreigners who were already lo- 
cated in the country desired independence hoping 
that they would be able to control the California 
rulers. The Calif ornians themselves took a very 
complacent view of affairs, " smoked cigarettes 
and waited, half-inclined to believe that a change 
of flag would not be an irreparable disaster." * 
The Mexican government, of course, took a very 
different view and opposed with all the means at 
its command the coming of foreigners into the 
territory, especially Americans. But the efforts of 
the authorities in this direction were practically 
nullified by the action of the Californians them- 
selves, who generally welcomed the newcomers. 

Many of the foreigners in the territory, how- 
ever, were turbulent and disorderly, and also the 

♦Bancroft, History of the Pacific Coast States, Vol. XVI, 
p. 109. 



124 The Story of California 

undoubted source of many aggravations to the au- 
thorities. This particular class was made up of 
adventurers of a low type, deserters from ves- 
sels, and undesirable members of other communi- 
ties. 

Matters were in this state when an incident 
occurred which caused great excitement at the 
time and nearly brought on a war between Mex- 
ico and the United States. This was what was 
known as the " Graham Affair." The facts have 
been so differently told by representatives of the 
opposing interests that it is extremely difficult to 
arrive at the truth. 

Isaac Graham was an American who had taken 
up his residence at Monterey where he was en- 
gaged in ranching and trading. He has been eu- 
logized and denounced until it is impossible to 
determine his real character. From the weight of 
evidence it would seem that he was a rough, bully- 
ing fellow of the lower sort, and the leader of a 
crowd of kindred spirits. While it has not been 
positively proven, there is a strong probability 
that this aggregation of turbulent men was con- 
cerned in or at least acquainted with several plots 
to overturn the government, and possibly to set 
California free. Governor Alvarado feared them 
and with reason. He therefore determined to rid 
the country of them. 

Taking advantage of a denunciation of the 
band by a William Garner to the effect that they 



The Mexican Regime 125 

were engaged in a plot against the government, 
Alvarado had Graham and about fifty other for- 
eigners seized and sent to San Bias as prisoners. 
This act was legally indefensible, but it seemed 
a necessity and it is noteworthy that the better 
class of foreigners residing in California at the 
time found no fault with Alvarado's course. They 
felt that while it was technically an outrage, 
it was a legitimate measure of self-protection. 
Twenty of the men arrested were afterward freed, 
paid a small money indemnity, and allowed to 
return to California. The remainder were de- 
ported from Mexico. The whole affair soon took 
subordinate place in the press of more stirring 
events. 

Foremost among these was the arrival in 1842 
at Monterey of Commodore Jones of the United 
States navy. He had been cruising along the 
Pacific Coast closely watching developments in 
regard to California. In the fall he received word 
that his government was at war with Mexico and 
he immediately set sail for the capital city of Cali- 
fornia, where he arrived on October 19. At four 
o'clock in the afternoon of that day he demanded 
the surrender of the city. At eleven o'clock the 
next morning fifteen marines were landed from 
his vessel with instructions to raise the American 
flag over the custom-house. This they did and 
declared the country to have been conquered by 
the United States. The following day, however, 



126 The Story of California 

Commodore Jones received authentic information 
that war had not been declared. Though some- 
what crestfallen, he took prompt action to restore 
things to their former state and repair the damage 
he had done, after which he retired with a salute 
to the Mexican flag. 

The Jones affair was merely an incident and 
had no bearing whatever upon the situation in 
California. In fact it had no other effect upon 
the territory than to furnish an opportunity for 
Manuel Micheltorena, the new governor, to puff 
himself. He was at Los Angeles when he heard 
of the landing of Jones at Monterey and he pro- 
ceeded at once to make a splendid bluster about 
" driving the Yankees from the territory " but 
at the same time he was very careful to. remain 
as far as possible from the scene of action. When 
the news of the Commodore's retreat was received 
Micheltorena in all frankness ascribed it to that 
officer's fear of his valiant army and their more 
valiant leader. 

This much vaunted army consisted of a large 
number of cholos whom Micheltorena had 
brought with him from Mexico. Most of them 
were released from prison to go with him. The 
governor had no means with which to pay them 
and the cholos shifted for themselves by stealing 
from the citizens. Los Angeles was the first 
city which was afflicted with this body of troops 
and she was speedily cured of her ambition to be 



The Mexican Regime 127 

the capital of the territory. There was much 
rejoicing when the governor and his army left 
for the north. The battalion was also happy for 
to them it meant leaving a somewhat worked out 
district for new and more productive fields. The 
only part of the population who were not pleased 
at the move was that which resided at Monterey. 
Nor were they better pleased when the lack of 
suitable housing for his officers caused the gov- 
ernor to quarter them upon the townspeople. 

These things combined with the popular hatred 
of Mexican control and the ambition of some 
prominent Californians to bring about a rebellion. 
Manuel Castro was at first the leader of the 
movement and its ostensible object was the ex- 
pulsion of the cholos. Alvarado and Pio Pico, a 
prominent figure in the southern part of the State, 
soon joined the rebels, who gathered an army of 
about 220 men. Governor Micheltorena gra- 
ciously acceded to the wishes of this superior force 
without the necessity of a battle and promised to 
send away the cholos within three months. This 
promise was as readily broken as given and its 
breach gave the malcontents an opportunity to 
turn a movement against the cholos into a move- 
ment against him. 

Micheltorena managed to gather a force of 
nearly four hundred men and started south to 
crush the rebels. But the rebels did not wait to 
be crushed. They immediately retreated. In the 



128 The Story of California 

pursuit the governor was careful not to come 
within a hundred miles of them until the rebels 
picked up courage and returned from Los Angeles 
to meet him. The forces mustered about an equal 
number of men. They came within long cannon 
range of each other at Cahuenga, the scene of a 
previous civil conflict. The Mexicans had three 
cannon and the Californians two. Heavy can- 
nonading from these batteries continued through- 
out the afternoon, but as both armies kept in close 
shelter under the banks of the Los Angeles River, 
little damage was done. A Mexican horse's head 
was shot off and a Californian mule was injured 
by the flying debris. During the night some flank- 
ing was attempted which brought the armies to- 
gether again the next morning at Verdugo. For 
almost two hours the cannonading was again in- 
dulged in without visible result, when Michel- 
torena raised the white flag and proposed a capitu- 
lation. This was accepted by the rebels and the 
erstwhile governor was unceremoniously shipped 
out of the country. 

Pio Pico, as senior vocal of the junto, had been 
declared governor ad interim. Los Angeles again 
became the capital, though the northern officials 
seldom graced it with their presence. This re- 
sulted in a renewal of the old sectional quarrel 
in all its former strength. It was augmented by 
the personal antagonism which existed between 
Pico and Jose Castro, the military commandant at 



The Mexican Regime 129 

Monterey. Pico was no man to control the situ- 
ation or to retain the confidence of either party. 
He had steered his course too long by the star 
of personal advantage to give any one reason to 
trust in his disinterestedness under the present 
circumstances. His rule was one of increasing 
turbulence and was almost a constant round of 
riots and incipient rebellions which amounted to 
nothing, more because of their own lack of organi- 
zation than from any inherent strength in the 
government. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE SECULARIZATION OF THE MISSIONS 

WHILE the Franciscans in the face of vex- 
ing problems, which they were called upon 
to solve, assumed practically every outward sign 
of ownership, and though the Indians might have 
wondered just how much their interests took 
priority over that of their trustees, it must be re- 
membered that of all the vast domains that were 
subject to the sway of the California missions at 
the height of their power, not one acre was claimed 
as belonging to the Order or any of its members. 
These lands were the property of the Indians. 
The friars never entirely forgot that they were 
missionaries and that some day they must move on 
to new fields. But the one great conclusion to 
which they could never bring their minds was 
that the time had arrived for a change. They al- 
ways declared that the neophytes were not ready 
for citizenship, whether the establishment which 
it was proposed to secularize was five or fifty 
years old. And their contention was always true, 
though its declaration involved a confession of 
the failure of the mission system. 

But such a confession contained no news for 

ISO 



The Secularization of the Missions 131 

those familiar with conditions at the mission es- 
tablishments. The Indians were wholly unfit for 
self-government or even to care for themselves. 
In 1800 the death rate amounted to fifty per 
cent of the baptisms, while in 18 10 it ran as high 
as seventy-two per cent. At Purisima in the latter 
year Payeras reported that most Indian mothers 
gave birth to dead infants. Throughout the prov- 
ince the ratio of deaths to births among the In- 
dians was as three to two. 

Governor Borica, while trying to find a way to 
better conditions, named four causes for this back- 
ward state of affairs. First, the loss of freedom, 
as the natives in their former state had been un- 
der no subjection whatever. Second, insufficient 
food. Third, filthy conditions of body and abode. 
Fourth, the coralling of all the women at night 
into narrow and ill-ventilated quarters. These 
latter he described as so foul that he could not en- 
dure them for a single minute. 

The friars' reply to this somewhat sweeping in- 
dictment was to invite comparison of the mission 
Indian with his gentile brother, a comparison 
which they always made in favor of the former. 
They found more difficulty however in answering 
the charge of Governor Sola that the neophytes 
were lazy, indolent, and disregardful of authority, 
costing millions of pesos annually with no recom- 
pense to the body politic. This they could only 
deny, and try to extract from the real situation 



132 The Story of California 

some support for their position that the Indians 
were not yet ready for secularization. 

Nevertheless the friars knew that seculariza- 
tion must come, always kept the impending event 
in mind and tried to keep themselves in the best 
position to meet it when it should come. The dis- 
position which was made of the increasing wealth 
of the missions has always been and still is a 
mystery. Not all of it was used in California, 
and the conclusion is almost inevitable that it 
went where it would do the most good for the ad- 
vancement of the interests of the Franciscan Or- 
der and would be available for its use in its ap- 
proaching dark days. 

The subject of secularization aroused concern 
in 1783, before San Diego Mission was fifteen 
years old. Bishop Reyes came to California with 
full authority to organize the missions into a cus- 
tody. The College of San Fernando, the Fran- 
ciscan institution which was the parent of all the 
California missions, succeeded in postponing ac- 
tion at that time and the matter dropped for 
nearly thirty years. But though dormant, it was 
not forgotten. The friars continued to strengthen 
their position against it and yet to prepare them- 
selves for it. 

September 13, 18 13, the Cortes of Spain passed 
a decree which provided that all missions in 
America that had been founded ten years or more 
should be delivered over to the bishop at once. 



The Secularization of the Missions 133 

The friars might be appointed temporary curates, 
but all temporal matters were to be taken from 
their hands. The lands were to be turned over 
to private ownership and the neophytes were 
to be governed by their ayuntamientos and the 
civil authority. Had this edict been enforced it 
would have meant disaster not only for the Fran- 
ciscans but also for the Indians a quarter of a 
century sooner than disaster actually came. 

But no attempt was made to enforce the de- 
cree in California until January of 182 1. At that 
time Viceroy Venadito of Mexico ordered the mis- 
sions turned over to the government and the bish- 
ops. President Payeras notified Governor Sola 
that the friars were ready, willing, and anxious 
to comply with the order and looked forward with 
joy to new spiritual conquests. But the bishop 
decided that in the then disturbed condition of 
Mexico it would be better to postpone the mat- 
ter until imperial independence should be estab- 
lished. 

The readiness of President Payeras to deliver 
over the mission establishments seems somewhat 
inconsistent with the oft repeated excuses of the 
friars for delay. But the President was well 
aware that the bishop had no curates to put in 
charge of the mission churches, and therefore 
could not let the friars depart. It was also well 
known to both the President and the bishop, as 
well as the civil authorities, that the missionaries 



134 The Story of California 

exercised an unbounded influence over the Indians 
and the latter authorities were very hesitant about 
the advisability or even the practicability of at- 
tempting to hold this great number of uneducated 
and untrustworthy people in check by any other 
means. Therefore the Father-President felt very 
safe in offering to comply with the order, for he 
knew it could not be carried out even if there had 
been a desire to do so. 

In this manner another respite was obtained but 
still the dread of approaching secularization hung 
over the missions and their guardians like a black 
pall. It took away all incentive to indulge in the 
petty quarrels with the civil power that had marked 
the early days of mission history. The growth of 
commerce had greatly enhanced the material lot 
of the missions and their share in the prosperity 
which resulted from enlarged trade relations was 
a large one. But the success of republicanism and 
the unmistakable tendency toward secularization 
left little ground for hope. The friars were not 
in sympathy with the revolution. There was no 
place in a republic for their institutions, with their 
system of land monopoly, and their social condi- 
tions, some of whose features bore a resemblance 
to slavery. Padre Senan called upon God to 
pardon and save the misguided insurgents of New 
Spain and South America, who without divine 
interference were sure to ruin all and be ruined. 
Prefect Sarria absolutely refused to countenance 



The Secularization of the Missions 135 

republicanism, but he left the friars to choose 
for themselves after the success of the republic. 
Their decision was not unanimous. Many de- 
clared unhesitatingly against it, but others, swayed 
by various influences, approved it. 

The new republic, as soon as it became reason- 
ably settled as to its internal affairs, was not slow 
to fulfill the fears of those who had struggled 
against it. Very soon it began to be generally 
understood that the prosperity of the northern 
territory depended upon the occupation of the 
agricultural lands by actual settlers. The mis- 
sions controlled though they did not own a vast 
area of the most desirable lands in the country. 
It was inevitable therefore that forces should be 
set in motion which tended to the opening of 
these lands to settlement. 

In 1826, however, the friars were still in con- 
trol of the situation. This was due to their con- 
trol over the neophytes and their ability to keep 
them quiet and at work. President Duran had 
carefully pointed out that the Indians of the 
pueblos were a serious menace to their com- 
munities. While the charge had been flung at the 
missionaries that their system savored of slavery, 
the Indians in the towns were in the actual con- 
dition of slaves. They were kept under strict 
surveillance, forced to do all the heavier work, 
and by a system of loans were kept in practical 
bondage. Such was the claim of the friars which 



136 The Story of California 

put off for a time, at least, the evil day of their 
downfall. 

But it could only be retarded, not warded off. 
In 1828 came the news of the expulsion of the 
Spanish friars from Mexico and the sad plight 
into which the Franciscan College of San Fer- 
nando had fallen in consequence. The law which 
had brought about this expulsion applied to Cali- 
fornia as well as the other parts of the republic, 
but was not enforced there for the same reason 
that previous laws had not been enforced. An- 
other law was passed the following year whose 
terms were still more stringent but its action too 
was suspended. 

The enforcement of these laws was not post- 
poned by the civil authorities because of any feel- 
ing of delicacy on their part for the position of 
the friars nor because of any lack of eagerness to 
get possession of the mission lands. Governor 
Echeandia and his superiors earnestly desired 
secularization and they desired it as soon as pos- 
sible, but they realized all the serious aspects of 
the problem. They well knew that it was very 
largely due to the missionaries that peace and 
order reigned among the native population in- 
stead of turbulance and riot. They knew that any 
precipitate action meant ruin to the colony and 
that therefore it would be necessary to bring about 
gradually the much desired change of status. 

The first actual step toward secularization was 



The Secularization of the Missions 137 

under the decree of July 25, 1826. This allowed 
(but did not require) all neophytes who had been 
Christians from childhood or for fifteen years, 
who were married, and who had some means of 
earning a livelihood to leave the missions. The 
friars did not oppose this decree because scarcely 
any of the neophytes were in a position to take 
advantage of it. The friars were also convinced 
that those who did take advantage of the new 
decree would prove the utter folly of it. Only 
ten families out of 160 at San Diego and San Luis 
Rey could be induced to leave their missions. 

So, after years of anxious anticipation, during 
which the friars had performed their duties as 
best they could with the constant dread hanging 
over them that at any moment they might be de- 
prived of the fruits of their toil, the first blow had 
fallen. And because of their politic handling of 
the matter and the natural difficulties which must 
be overcome it was only a very light blow; one 
which they received almost with a smile. For 
four years more they were unmolested. 

The plan of secularization of 1830 provided 
for the organization of the mission communities 
into towns, the division of the surplus lands among 
the neophytes but under the control of secular 
administrators instead of under the friars, and 
the maintenance of a separate rancho at each 
mission for the support of a place of public wor- 
ship and a curate to officiate at its services. Gov- 



138 The Story of California 

ernor Echeandia attempted to put this plan in 
force but without much progress until after 1833. 

In this year there arrived in California for the 
purpose of filling vacancies in the ranks of the 
missionaries ten more Franciscan friars. These 
new comers were not, however, from the College 
of San Fernando, (for in all probability that in- 
stitution was unable to furnish the necessary men, ) 
but from the Franciscan College of Nuestra 
Senora de Guadalupe de Zacatecas. The seven 
missions from San Carlos north were turned over 
to them. These men were far from being of as 
high quality as the San Fernandines. 

While this influx of new workers lightened the 
burden resting upon the shoulders of those al- 
ready on the ground it did nothing to put off the 
evil day of secularization. In this very same year 
the final blow fell and the doom of the missions 
was sealed. In August, largely through the in- 
fluence of a company who desired to colonize mis- 
sion lands, a law was passed requiring immediate 
secularization of the missions. A supplementary 
decree passed in November, allowed the coloniza- 
tion of the lands and to carry out not only the 
secularization but also colonization by the com- 
pany,* authorized the use of the revenues of the 
Pious Fund. 



*Hijar and Padres, the engineers of this scheme, were 
later arrested and deported on a charge of attempting by 
means of this colony to separate California from Mexico. 



The Secularization of the Missions 139 

This time there was no respite and the law was 
rigidly enforced. The year 1834 was marked by 
a shameful slaughter of the mission cattle and a 
widespread destruction of the mission property. 
Many of the missionaries regarded secularization 
as an outrage upon them and ceased to care for 
such property as was left in their hands. Their 
one desire was to convert everything into cash. 
Others accepted the inevitable with as good grace 
as possible, and assumed their new duties as curates 
without complaint. 

Secularization under favorable circumstances 
would have injured no one. But to this end five 
conditions were necessary. These were honest 
administrators, intelligent neophytes, the cooper- 
ation of the friars, a watchful territorial govern- 
ment, and a healthy and undivided public spirit. 
As has been shown, none of these things existed 
in California and secularization was therefore 
foredoomed to be a matter more of ruination than 
of adjustment to new conditions. The years from 
1836 to 1842 were years of high-handed spoli- 
ation. The governor used the grain and cattle 
as government supplies and paid government debts 
by orders on the missions for various products. 
The majordomo in charge, being a government 
employe, honored the orders as a matter of course. 
The men appointed as majordomos and common- 
ados ranged from incompetent and stupid to 
vicious and dishonest. 



140 The Story of California 

In the condition of the Indians, there had been 
no visible change for the better since 1769 which 
was at all commensurate with the money and labor 
which had been expended on their training in the 
intervening years. The mission property when 
it was distributed to them, or rather what was 
left of it after the government and the adminis- 
trators had taken out their shares, was recklessly 
squandered and gambled away. The Indians for 
the most part became vagabonds, drinking and 
stealing in and about the towns. Many of them 
relapsed wholly into barbarism. At San Juan 
Bautista secularization was more complete than 
elsewhere with the result that the entire mission 
community was wiped out. The ex-neophytes 
were in constant turmoil for several years. They 
were finally quieted and a little settlement of 
about fifty souls sprang up nearby under the name 
of San Juan de Castro. 

W. E. P. Hartnell, who visited all the mission 
establishments in 1839 as inspector under Gov- 
ernor Alvarado, found destruction and ruin at 
them all. There were but few neophytes left and 
these were ill-treated. Crops were neglected and 
the whole situation of affairs was so disheartening 
that he resigned his position in despair of ever ac- 
complishing anything. In 1 843 Governor Michel- 
torena conceived the idea of restoring former con- 
ditions, but such a thing was impossible, and the 
fact that the mission system was dead became uni- 



The Secularization of the Missions 141 

versally recognized. Two years later Governor 
Pico ordered the sale at public auction of four 
or five missions and the renting of others. The 
returns were to pay off the indebtedness and the 
remainder, if any, was to go to the support of the 
prelates. The final end of the tragedy was marked 
by the death of Prefect Narciso Duran. The old 
man, realizing that the body of which he was the 
head was no longer a living entity, laid down the 
burden of life In 1846 and the mission system as 
an active force in the life of California ceased to 
exist. 

The final disposition of the mission lands may 
be mentioned here. After the American conquest 
in 1846 there appeared title deeds showing the 
sale of twelve of the mission properties. These 
deeds bore the signature of Pio Pico as Governor 
of California and were dated between May 4 and 
July 4, 1846. In most cases these proved to have 
been signed either after the United States flag 
had been raised at Monterey, or even after Pico's 
return in 1848 and fraudulently antedated. Some 
were probably bona fide but in most of the cases 
the property was afterwards disposed of by the 
new government. 

The mission buildings themselves, as distin- 
guished from the mission lands are today in 
various states of preservation. Of Santa Clara, 
Santa Cruz, and San Rafael there is no trace 
whatever. Soledad is but a heap of adobe ruins. 



142 The Story of California 

Of San Diego, the oldest of them all, there re- 
mains but the front wall. San Juan Capistrano 
and San Fernando are still impressive sights 
though much of the ancient building has been de- 
stroyed. San Luis Rey, Pala, and others have been 
restored through the efforts of the Landmarks 
Club of Southern California. Santa Barbara and 
San Gabriel still stand in their pristine glory as 
monuments to the greatness of the past. Most 
of them have reverted to the Catholic church in 
one way or another and in many of them religious 
services are regularly held; while at San Luis Rey, 
and Santa Barbara colonies of Franciscan friars 
are to be found as in the olden days. But nowhere 
are there any Indian neophytes to be seen, for 
with a few exceptions the descendants of the Cali- 
fornia Indians are in their graves, literally ex- 
terminated by the onward march of a stronger 
race. 

Another phase of secularization was the dis- 
position of the Pious Fund to which the Mexican 
government succeeded to the trusteeship when in- 
dependence was achieved in 1821. In 1836 a 
decree was passed setting aside an annual ap- 
propriation from this fund for the support of a 
bishop in California. A bishopric was erected and 
Francisco Garcia Diego became the first incum- 
bent of the office with headquarters at Santa Bar- 
bara. The new bishop became the trustee of the 
Fund under this decree but this part of it was re- 



The Secularization of the Missions 143 

voked in 1842 when President Santa Ana of the 
Mexican Republic came to the conclusion that 
the money, which now amounted to $1,500,000, 
should be administered nearer home. It followed 
naturally from this that there was no need to ad- 
minister it at all and the entire sum was forthwith 
confiscated, the government recognizing an obli- 
gation to pay to the beneficiaries six per cent 
interest upon the sum taken. Needless to say, 
the payments actually made were few and small. 
This state of affairs continued for nearly sixty 
years when the whole matter was finally taken 
before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The 
Hague and on October 13, 1902, a decision was 
rendered which bound Mexico to pay $1,460,682 
as back interest, and the sum of $43,050 annually 
forever, to the Catholic Church of California. 



\ 



CHAPTER XIII 

LIFE OF THE CALIFORNIANS 

UNDER Spanish rule California was a very 
small part of the domains of the then great 
Spanish Empire. Her people naturally felt them- 
selves of small importance. Their governor was 
appointed by the central authority of New Spain 
and was always accepted by them without question. 
Under the governor were prefects and sub-prefects 
who assisted him in the administration of affairs. 
The only courts were those of the alcaldes, who 
were lesser local magistrates and whose duties 
and rank were very similar to those of an English 
squire. This simple form of government sufficed 
for all the needs of the peaceful and benevolent 
population of those days. 

Almost nothing was known of the outside 
world. The knowledge of current events was 
confined to the name of the reigning king and 
the pope. There were no foreigners in California 
before 1785. Nothing was known of the Ameri- 
can revolution or of the existence of the United 
States until the arrival of a royal order in 1789 
commanding the governor to capture the Ameri- 
can vessel Columbia if she put in at the port of 
San Francisco, which she did not do. 

144 



Life of the Calif ornians 145 

With tumult and war raging in almost every 
other section of the civilized world during the 
last quarter of the eighteenth century and the 
first quarter of the nineteenth, California not 
only remained peaceful and calm herself, but lived 
in blissful ignorance of the fact that there was 
any more excitement in any other part of the 
world than within her own quiet borders. The 
French Revolution was to her unknown ; Napoleon 
was never heard of, and " Waterloo " meant 
nothing. 

A ripple went over the smooth waters of this 
quiet backwater of the mighty current of the 
world's history when the French navigator La 
Perouse arrived at Monterey in the fall of 1786. 
He was in charge of a scientific expedition under 
the auspices of the French government. His stay 
at Monterey was a brief one, but it served to give 
the Californians something to talk of for many 
months thereafter. His visit was almost for- 
gotten when Vancouver, the celebrated English 
navigator arrived. He made three visits in 1792 
and the following year, making a considerable 
study of the conditions of the territory. 

October 29, 1796, the first American vessel 
cast her anchor in a California port. She was the 
Otter of Boston, and sailed into the harbor 
of Monterey under the command of Captain Eb- 
enezer Dorr. She was the forerunner of a large 
number of American trading craft which came 



aA^ 



146 The Story of California 

to the coast and carried on extensive smuggling op- 
erations. They found a ready market for their 
goods on shore among the people and no diffi- 
culty whatever in securing all the assistance nec- 
essary to evade the representatives of the gov- 
ernment. The friars were among their heaviest 
buyers, but they were not always good customers. 
Captain Shaler furnished twenty of them with 
goods and took their notes. Only two redeemed. 

The following year there arrived the news that 
Spain was at war with England. The whole 
country was excited over the prospect of hostilities. 
Men were drilled in every pueblo and the Indians 
were assiduously told of the horrors which would 
inevitably follow an English invasion. No Eng- 
lish appeared and the excitement cooled. But so 
satisfied were the Californians with their own 
brave conduct under these trying circumstances 
that the later news of a war with Russia awakened 
no enthusiasm whatever. 

The first twenty years of the nineteenth cen- 
tury passed with almost no occurrence to mar the 
even course of life in this far away province. The 
friars, with some slight competition from the civil 
authorities at Monterey, maintained an uninter- 
rupted sway over the destinies of the country. 
The missions were the centers of all activity. 
Their message was peace and to them is due the 
full measure of credit for the orderly condition 
of the colony. 



Life of the Calif or nians 147 

But with the advent of republicanism, this benev- 
olent despotism rapidly lost its hold and, as has 
already been seen, fell from its position as the 
ruling power in the province to its own death. As 
the star of the missions waned that of the pueblos 
waxed and grew. Monterey, which had always 
been a town of the first importance as the seat of 
mission control, retained its prominence either 
because it was the capital of the territory or be- 
cause it was vigorously endeavoring to regain that 
position. In 1825 Governor Echeandia took up 
his residence at San Diego which by that act 
became the virtual capital. The various attempts 
of Los Angeles to acquire this coveted honor have 
already been related. 

So the pueblos became the nerve centers of the 
life of the province with private ranches stretch- 
ing between as lesser centers. And as the center 
changed from mission to pueblos, so also changed 
the spirit of the life of the people. A religious 
benevolence had been the dominant note under 
the old regime but this was now succeeded by a 
happy-go-lucky existence whose laxity was in 
marked contrast with former conditions. 

Under both the Spanish and the Mexican re- 
gimes the most strongly marked characteristic 
of the whole social system was its hospitality. 
Wherever one might travel in the province he 
was met with an open-handedness which was al- 
most prodigal. The only hotels of any kind 



• 



148 The Story of California 

were the missions. Any wayfarer was welcome 
here and when he was ready to leave he was not 
presented with a bill for the entertainment he had 
received. But while the missions served the pur- 
pose of hostelries, there was little need for them 
on this ground, for every home was open to all 
comers on the same generous scale. A guest in 
the house was one of the greatest pleasures of 
the housewife and her husband. A custom which 
admirably shows the spirit of this hospitality was 
that of " guest money." In the guest chamber 
of each home was kept a pile of coins. These 
were never counted but whenever the pile became 
depleted it was replenished, and any guest who 
might be in need of ready money was expected to 
take whatever was necessary for his needs. 

The natural conditions were such as to foster 
this widespread feeling of hospitality. Every- 
where throughout the land was plenty. There 
was plenty of land, plenty of horses, plenty of 
cattle for all comers. The woods and wilder re- 
gions were overrun with grouse, ducks, swans, 
antelope, deer, elk, panther, bears — black, cinna- 
mon, and grizzly — and there were fish in abun- 
dance. Food, therefore, was to be had for the 
taking. The climate required little or no shelter 
during by far the larger portion of the year. Even 
houses were extremely inexpensive, the adobe soil 
furnishing free of cost all the necessary material. 
This served alike for the houses of the rich and 



Life of the Calif ornians 149 

of the poor, the better homes being distinguished 
by a coat of plaster inside and out, and some of 
those belonging to the wealthiest being roofed 
with tile. 

The men of California spent most of their days 
on horseback. Thousands of unclaimed horses 
ranged the hills and valleys. When a man was in 
need of an animal he went out and roped one to 
his fancy, training it himself. Few of the Cali- 
fornians were oppressed with any business cares, 
their day being largely spent riding from place 
to place, visiting, eating, and drinking with their 
friends. Living in the saddle, they became splen- 
did riders and the more proficient among them 
easily ranked with the best of the Arabians and 
Cossacks. Inseparable from their riding was the 
use of the reata, or " lasso, " as it is frequently 
called. In their skilled hands this became a for- 
midable weapon with which even the grizzly bear 
was captured. 

In the matter of dress, man and horse furnished 
a picturesque sight. An open-necked shirt, rich 
waistcoat, and short jacket surmounted either a 
pair of knee breeches with white stockings or 
trousers slashed arid laced below the knee. A 
broad-brimmed, high-crowned hat richly trimmed 
with silver lace was worn. A bright red sash and 
a many colored serape or shawl added brilliance 
to the picture. The trappings of the horse were 



150 The Story of California 

gorgeous, silver-mounted saddles and bridles of- 
ten representing a value of $1000 or $1500. 

The women dressed in a loose short-sleeved 
gown, with a bright-colored belt, and satin or kid 
shoes. Necklaces and earrings were universal. 
The glossy black hair was worn in long braids 
if the owner was unmarried, but that of the 
matrons was held up with high combs. All 
classes wore the same kind of clothes to church but 
in the homes of the wealthier the very finest of 
silks, velvets and laces were to be seen. Many 
of the garments were made by the housewives, 
who prided themselves upon their skill with the 
needle. The women of rank were famous for 
their spotless linen. 

The family life of that day seems to have been 
exceedingly formal. The household rose at dawn 
and all partook of the morning coffee. Break- 
fast was served at eight or nine o'clock. Lunch- 
eon followed at noon, and tea at four. Supper 
was the largest meal of the five and came at eight 
or nine in, the evening. All of the meals were 
taken standing. Supper was followed by family 
prayers, after which the sons and daughters kissed 
their father's hand and withdrew. This ceremony 
was typical of the respect with which all children 
treated their parents. It made no difference what 
was the age of the children, there was no change 
in their manner toward their parents nor in their 
parents' manner toward them. A man fifty or 



Life of the Calif or nians 151 

sixty years old would not smoke or wear his hat 
in the presence of his father; and fathers not in- 
frequently administered corporal punishment with 
the lash to grown sons. But with all this strict- 
ness of ceremony the family life was pleasant and 
harmonious. 

The thing about which the Californians both- 
ered themselves least was education. There were 
no schools at all in the colony until 1795 when 
Governor Borica succeeded in getting classes 
started in several of the larger settlements. Some 
persons of better families sent their sons abroad 
to be educated but by far the greater number had 
almost no learning. A hearty laugh is reported 
when a class was informed that the world was 
round. By 18 17 conditions had improved and 
Governor Sola reported schools in each of the pre- 
sidios and pueblos. The schools received no sup- 
port from the friars, for which no good reason 
can be found, and were always poorly attended. 

At Monterey the sessions were held in a low 
dirty adobe hut with rude benches along the walls. 
The master, ferrule in hand, sat at one end on a 
raised platform. Above his head was a picture 
of a saint and a great green cross to which each 
boy addressed a bendito on entering. He then 
kissed the hand of the master and went to his 
seat. The ferrule was freely used and for more 
serious offenses such as laughing aloud, truancy, 
or failing to know the Christian doctrine, a 



152 The Story of California 

hempen scourge was at hand. The culprit guilty 
of one of these grave offenses was stripped to the 
waist, stretched upon a bench, a handkerchief 
stuffed in his mouth, and scourged. The subjects 
taught were the " three Rs " and the Christian 
doctrine from Ripaldi's catechism which must be 
learned by heart from one end to the other. On 
one occasion a general mutiny is reported, when a 
large number of hens were introduced into the 
schoolroom and the boys refused to assist at the 
flogging. 

The religious requirements of the friars were 
very strict, though frequently disregarded. All of 
the formalities of the Catholic religion were 
carefully observed by the missionaries and the 
great majority of the people. The report that 
there were several copies of the Bible " in com- 
mon language " in California led Prefect Sarria 
to take as great pains to suppress that book as 
he did to prohibit Voltaire and the escandalisimo 
waltz. 

The great center of all social entertainments 
among the Californians was the rodeo or round-up. 
At this time, when the cattle were brought in and 
branded, all the people of a district were gath- 
ered together and there was much merry-making 
when the work was done. The principal forms 
of amusement were barbecues, the fandango or 
general dance and numerous individual dances, 
horse-racing, with its attendant heavy betting, bull- 



Life of the Calif ortuans 153 

fighting and bull and bear fights. The latter were 
especial favorites at the pueblos, where they found 
a suitable audience. A bull and a bear were tied 
together by a long reata. The bull first tried to 
escape. Finding this in vain he turned and fought 
but was almost invariably defeated. 

Dancing was more in favor with the better class 
of people. At the time of the visit of the Russian 
commander at San Francisco, there was dancing 
at the Arguello house nearly every afternoon. 
The scene of the dance was either a spacious room 
or an open bower. One of the most famous en- 
tertainments of the early days was the reception 
tendered to Governor Sola when he landed at 
Monterey. He was waited upon on his arrival 
by a delegation of twenty girls who delivered an 
address of welcome. At the feast which followed 
the tables were laden with every delicacy of the 
province, game, olives from San Diego, oranges 
from San Gabriel, wines from San Fernando, and 
bread of San Antonio flour. After the banquet 
followed exhibitions of horsemanship, a bull and 
bear fight, and a grand ball in the evening. 

Wedding ceremonies were always the occasion 
of festivities, though they did not take the impor- 
tant place which they do in our own day. There 
was great particularity in regard to the gifts 
which the groom gave to the bride. He was re- 
quired by inexorable custom to present her with 
at least six changes of raiment. On the day of 



154 The Story of California 

the great event, the bride and groom rode to the 
friar on separate horses. After the ceremony 
they returned on one horse to the house of the 
bride to receive the blessing of the parents, and 
the usual festivities followed. 

The life of the Californians, simple and usually 
peaceful (for the turbulence of the politics of 
Mexican days was really but a small portion of 
their life), nevertheless fostered certain vices. 
The men, raised in idleness and with pleasure as 
their only object, had no sense of responsibility 
and ambition was almost an unknown quality. As 
a result there was no advance in culture and 
scarcely any in commerce. Their civilization was 
at a standstill. And an unprogressive civilization 
is inevitably a retrogressive civilization. In Cali- 
fornia this retrogression made its appearance in 
excessive drinking, gambling, and a somewhat 
prevalent cattle-stealing. There were many incor- 
rigible characters at the pueblos whom neither 
religious nor military discipline could affect. They 
kept the authorities constantly on the watch to 
prevent trouble with the Indian women, as well 
as excesses in drinking and gambling. 

Commerce for many years was a negligible 
factor. This was due in part to governmental 
restrictions, even trade with the Spanish vessels 
being forbidden. But smuggling soon grew to be 
a common occupation, particularly among the 
friars. The local authorities were always inclined 



Life of the Calif omians 155 

to wink at the offense because they were on the 
ground and realized the necessity of this method 
of obtaining the means of subsistence for the col- 
ony which were denied by the commercial regula- 
tions of Spain. With the achievement of Mexican 
independence these trade restrictions were re- 
moved and there followed immediately a great 
increase in commerce of general benefit. 

Some of the prices current in 1788 are interest- 
ing in this connection. Horses sold for from 
three to nine dollars; sheep, 75c to $2; fresh beef, 
ic a pound; a gun, $4.50 to $16; saddles, $12 to 
$16; bridles, $1; shirts, $4 to $6; silk handker- 
chiefs and stockings, $1.50; shoes, 75c. Wages 
were low in proportion. The man who cared for 
Monterey chapel was awarded a salary of two 
dollars a month by the commandant. Governor 
Arrillaga disapproved of this and substituted a 
11 slight allowance now and then." 

But on the whole, with all its faults and short- 
comings, this life of the early Californians seems 
to have been regarded by those who lived it as 
close to the ideal. Guadalupe Vallejo, after Cali- 
fornia had become the home of thousands of gold- 
mad men from all over the world, said with an 
air of mournful reminiscence, " It seems to me 
that there never was a more peaceful and happy 
people on the face of the earth than the Spanish, 
Mexican, and Indian population of Alta Califor- 
nia before the American conquest." 



CHAPTER XIV 

JOHN A. SUTTER 

THIS delightfully peaceful life was perhaps too 
Utopian to last long. By 1840 new forces 
were beginning to appear which meant a change 
in the old regime, the introduction of the struggle 
and strife of commerce, and a long farewell 
to the care-free days of early California. In 
1839 there arrived at Monterey with letters of 
introduction to the governor, a handsome young 
man of most engaging appearance and attractive 
manners. The young stranger told many inter- 
esting stories of his early life, of his education, 
of his travel, how he had served as a captain 
in the French army, and immediately became a 
favorite with everyone. He succeeded particularly 
in ingratiating himself with Governor Alvarado, 
and confided to the governor his desire to establish 
a colony and erect a fort on the Sacramento River. 
He expatiated upon the splendid results the carry- 
ing out of such a plan would have ; how it would 
serve to guard the frontier against Indians and 
other possible enemies; how it would extend the 
dominion and power of Mexico. It was a glorious 
picture he drew, and Governor Alvarado, much 
pleased with his young friend's plans, wished to 

156 




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John A. Sutter 157 

aid him in their realization. But the laws of his 
country forbade him to grant land to foreigners. 
The young man promptly overcame that difficulty 
by declaring his intention to become a citizen of 
Mexico. Forthwith the governor granted him 
eleven square leagues of land stretching away on 
either side of the Sacramento Valley — the gift 
of a prince. The amiable captain set forth for 
his new possessions with a heart full of joy and 
a few Kanakas to build his Mexican outpost. He 
was followed after a short time, by an emissary 
bearing papers declaring him a citizen of Mexico, 
and his commission as an officer of the govern- 
ment. 

This young man was John Augustus Sutter and 
t is possible now to do what Governor Alvarado 
:ould not do, glance over his past career. If the 
governor could have done this, he might not have 
een so ready to comply with the stranger's re- 
jests. Sutter was born in the Grand Duchy of 
Baden in February, 1803. He was the son of a 
Lutheran clergyman. When the boy was but 
c xteen years old the family removed to Switzer- 
land. John received a good education and after- 
wards became a soldier in the Swiss army. At 
1 le age of twenty-three he married. He had some 
ittle money or credit and at the time of his mar- 
riage he left the army and went into business. 
But his capital and experience were not equal to 
his ambition and the result was that he soon 



158 The Story of California 

found himself in bankruptcy. " Leaving his fam- 
ily in straitened circumstances and his creditors to 
settle his affairs/' * he sailed for New York in 
1834 with some vague ideas of forming a Swiss 
colony in America. 

He tried his fortune in New Mexico, where his 
great enthusiasm resulted in serious charges of 
swindling being brought against him. These he 
did not care to trouble himself about so he left 
New Mexico for Honolulu. From the Islands 
he made his way to Alaska, and in 1839 reached 
California where his record was unknown and he 
could make a fresh start. He had visited Fort 
Ross on his way southward and very much ad- 
mired it. It is more than possible that it was 
this secluded outpost that inspired his scheme for 
a colony on the Sacramento. 

The site which he selected was far from any 
of the other settlements, and in this Sutter un- 
doubtedly had other things in mind than the mere 
protection of the Mexican frontier. For with 
all his pretensions it must be admitted that he was 
far more interested in John Augustus Sutter than 
he was in the Mexican or any other government. 
If he was far from the seat of authority he would 
be proportionately independent and this was his 
main object. He became a Mexican and obeyed 
the Mexican laws only in so far as his own inter- 
ests required it. 

* Bancroft. 



John A. Sutter 159 

His land secured without the expenditure of 
any money, Sutter proceeded to acquire the neces- 
sary personal property for the establishment of 
his colony. He purchased from the Russians who 
were just abandoning Fort Ross, a launch and all 
their cannon, together with much other equip- 
ment which he thought would be useful to him. 
For all of these purchases he unhesitatingly gave 
his notes for thousands of dollars, and the Rus- 
sians, though perhaps not so unhesitatingly, ac- 
cepted them. He was now in a position to begin 
the actual work of building. 

Sutter's Fort, or " New Helvetia, 1 ' as its 
founder called it, was located near the site of the 
present city of Sacramento. The first buildings 
were tule huts built by the Kanakas, but within a 
year one adobe building had been erected. Sut- 
ter, whatever may have been his moral failings, 
was a good builder and he built on a large scale. 
He began the laying out of buildings and the 
works of a commercial civilization at once. Be- 
ginnings were made in agricultural development; 
cattle were secured; beaver were trapped; and a 
winery was established in which brandy was made 
from grapes. The following year work was begun 
on a port. The launch made frequent trips to 
Yerba Buena for supplies and what had so short 
a time before been a primitive wilderness became 
a bustling young community. 

The principal danger was from the Indians and 



160 The Story of California 

in his policy toward them Sutter was extremely 
careful. He was just, watchful, prompt to pun- 
ish any affront, and soon won the respect of the 
tribes in the immediate neighborhood of the set- 
tlement. It has been claimed that he was not so 
particular in his treatment of the more distant 
tribes and that he even seized some of their sons 
for service in his own establishment in a manner 
bordering on slavery, but this is undoubtedly an 
exaggeration. 

In 1844, five years after Sutter's first visit to 
the site, Fremont arrived at the fort and has 
described it in his reports. An adobe wall eighteen 
feet high and three feet thick surrounded a quad- 
rangle about 500 by 150 feet. The wall was 
marked every few feet by a loophole and at the 
opposite corners were bastions or towers mounting 
twelve cannon. Within this wall there was a sec- 
ond wall which was roofed over and included 
quarters for the men, workshops, a dwelling house, 
distillery, and other buildings. 

This fort was the center of innumerable manu- 
facturing and agricultural operations. There was 
a three-mile water-race and saw-mill at Coloma, a 
flouring-mill near what is now Brighton ; one thou- 
sand level acres were sown in wheat, and eight 
thousand cattle roamed the hills. Two thousand 
horses and mules, one thousand hogs and two 
thousand sheep completed the list of livestock. 
The fort could accommodate a garrison of one 



John A. Sutter 161 

thousand men. At the time of Fremont's visit 
there were forty Indians in uniform on guard. 
Besides these there were thirty to forty white men 
of various nationalities in Sutter's employ. 

The ostensible purpose of all this fortification 
in the center of a vast ranch was to afford pro- 
tection for the men at the ranch and the Mexican 
frontier against the Indians. The real motive 
behind it all, however, was Sutter's romantic spirit 
and his desire to found a Swiss colony in America. 
The plan for such a colony never made much 
progress toward realization, but its author was 
successful in establishing a veritable principality 
in this new country. He was lord of a princely 
domain with legal control over all of its inhabit- 
ants by virtue of his position as the representative 
of the Mexican government. He had every ma- 
terial advantage which one could desire, and to 
consider his progress since his landing ten years 
before on the other shore of the continent as a 
bankrupt, must have given him great satisfaction 
except for one circumstance — his creditors in- 
sisted upon the payment of his obligations to them. 
This was the one thing that detracted from Sut- 
ter's full enjoyment of his position. In spite of 
his difficulties in this direction, however, Sutter 
was for years the leading foreigner in the country, 
and his fame soon spread beyond the confines of 
California. As emigrant trains made their way 
across the Sierras from the United States, Sutter's 



162 The Story of California 

Fort became their destination. It was the nearest 
outpost of civilization to the central passes over 
the mountains, and incoming Americans were 
there always assured of a warm reception and 
every assistance. 

This welcome and succor which American im- 
migrants received at the hands of Sutter must be 
credited with a large share in the later develop- 
ment of affairs in California. But Sutter was by 
no means a political missionary for American 
occupation. His one great aim was to make 
money, and he cared little under what flag he 
made it. American immigrants made good custo- 
mers and created a larger market for his products, 
and therefore he welcomed American immigrants. 
His policy in this direction, however, soon involved 
him in difficulties with the Mexican authorities. 
They were suspicious of this tender regard for 
newcomers whose entry into the country their laws 
forbade and whom they themselves were none too 
anxious to welcome. 

These differences became more and more bitter, 
and on some occasions became violent. At one 
time the Mexican officials opened negotiations for 
purchasing the fort for the purpose of stopping 
the welcome to Americans, but nothing came of 
them because these zealous officers had neither au- 
thority nor money to make the purchase. At an- 
other time Sutter threatened to raise the flag of 
France and secede from Mexican control. There 



John A, Sutter 163 

was little in these threats as he could not carry 
them out, but the fact that he made them shows his 
lack of loyalty to the government which had 
treated him so kindly and to which he had sworn 
allegiance. He had long regarded his connection 
with that government only in the light of a com- 
mercial asset, and he now began to look down 
upon all Californians as inferior beings. 

While Sutter's welcome to American immi- 
grants became widely known, he was not the only 
landed proprietor in California to extend a warm 
greeting to the newcomers. Guadalupe Vallejo at 
Sonoma followed his example and while his ranch 
was located farther from the most traveled routes, 
his expressions of welcome were no less ardent. 
During every year of the forties these two pio- 
neers saw an increasing stream of men pour- 
ing into the country from the United States, until 
the number of citizens of this allegiance in the 
northern part of the territory became an important 
factor in the country's affairs. These men of an- 
other nation were to play an extremely prominent 
part in the immediate future of California. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE COMING OF THE AMERICANS 

THERE were a number of foreigners and sev- 
eral Americans in California before 1841 
though none of them attained the prominence of 
Sutter. John Gilroy, an English cooper, arrived 
in 1 8 14 and settled at what is now known as Gil- 
roy, as a permanent resident of California. Hugh 
McCulloch and W. E. P. Hartnell arrived in 1821 
and established a commercial house which was 
very prominent in the early commerce of the coun- 
try. In 1827 Jedediah Smith made his way across 
the Sierras and the Mojave desert at the head of a 
small trapping party. He soon became involved 
in disputes with the missionaries and left the coun- 
try by the way he had come. Abel Stearns, an 
American, had reached California in 1828. He 
established a trading station at San Pedro and 
was frequently charged by the authorities with 
smuggling. In spite of this he was a strong in- 
fluence in the upbuilding of the country. Others 
had reached California by sea but the whole num- 
ber of foreigners was very small previous to 1841. 
In that year a wave of interest in California 
and excitement over its possibilities spread over 
the United States. Letters and books describing 

164 



The Coming of the Americans 165 

the country by those who had been there were filled 
with tales of wonder and great enthusiasm was 
aroused. Many started for this land of promise, 
most of them by water. Some of the braver 
spirits among them, however, packing their earthly 
possessions into cumbersome, but strong carts, 
started toward the great mountain wall to try its 
dangers and discover for themselves whether it 
were not possible to penetrate to the new country 
by land. The first of these emigrant trains arrived 
in 1 841, and opened up the great overland route 
which led so many thousand Americans to Cali- 
fornia and so many hundreds to their graves. 

The story of this first emigrant train has been 
told with much detail and it is typical of the ex- 
perience of all the early overland travelers. 
Among the members of this party was a young 
Missouri school teacher, John Bidwell by name. 
The story of his journey is the more interesting to 
us as he afterwards became one of California's 
most distinguished pioneers. At the age of twenty 
years he started for the West. His first attempt 
to secure company for the trip to California was 
unsuccessful. He joined a party of several hun- 
dred settlers on the Platte reserve, who organized 
for the long journey but never started. 

But Bidwell was not to be turned aside from 
his purpose. He finally gathered together a party 
of five families, sixty-nine persons in all, and made 
the start. They had plenty of oxen, horses, and 



166 The Story of California 

mules, but no cows. It was customary where long 
journeys were to be made across the plains by such 
a party as this to elect one of their number cap- 
tain so that there might be some recognized head 
to the expedition. In the present instance the 
choice fell upon a man named Bartleson, who, like 
Bidwell, was a Missourian. 

As none of this hopeful party had any more 
idea of the route to be traveled, than that Cali- 
fornia was west, they were fortunate in falling in 
with a band of Catholic missionaries under Father 
Du Smet who had an old mountaineer named 
Fitzpatrick in his service as guide. Traveling with 
this party they not only reached the Platte River 
in Idaho without mishap, but learned much of how 
to travel in this wild and unfriendly country. 
Every night the wagons were pulled up so as to 
form a hollow square with the horses inside. All 
of the cooking was done in the daytime and no 
fires were permitted at night so that the danger 
of discovery and attack by Indians might be 
lessened. Their lives were often endangered by 
vast herds of buffalo driving toward them, but 
this too they learned to avert by separating the 
herd with the noise of guns or by lighting large 
fires. 

So they made their way into Idaho without 
serious accident, but at Soda Springs, where the 
route of the missionary party turned to the north 
and they could no longer travel together, half of 



The Coming of the Americans 167 

the party became so discouraged that they decided 
to abandon their original plan and to continue on 
with the missionaries to Fort Hall. But Bidwell 
and the remainder pressed on. They reached 
Salt Lake in September, meeting and overcoming 
greater hardships with every day's journey west- 
ward. They had to make their own roads all the 
way. They dug down steep banks. They filled 
gulches. Water was scarce and when they did 
find it, it was salty. It was finally decided to 
abandon the wagons and press on in an attemot 
to reach California before the snows began. 

But they were inexperienced in packing animals 
and their trials and tribulations on this account 
were many. They followed the course of the 
Humboldt River to the Great Sink in Nevada. 
Because of the slow pace at which the oxen 
traveled they were able to make only eighteen or 
twenty miles a day. Suddenly Captain Bartleson 
announced his intention to take seven of the men 
and go ahead of the rest of the party. This reso- 
lution he proceeded to carry out and these traitors 
to the common cause took with them most of the 
meat that the party had left. In spite of the 
terrible discouragement which such actions as these 
meant to the rest of the little band, they struggled 
on with Bidwell in the lead. 

Some days later this remnant of the original 
party were astonished to hear somebody in their 
rear. They waited for whoever it was to come 



168 The Story of California 

up and their surprise can be imagined when they 
found it to be Bartleson and his companions 
almost famished. They found no welcome of 
course, but Bidwell's band refrained from treat- 
ing them as they deserved and the reunited party 
began again to work its way westward. At last 
they reached the summit of the mountains, and 
soon thereafter found the headwaters of the Stan- 
islaus River. Following this stream they worked 
their way down into the San Joaquin Valley. 

Seeing other high mountains far to the west of 
them they thought themselves still at least five 
hundred miles from their destination. Their joy 
was unbounded on reaching the ranch of Dr. John 
Marsh when they discovered that they were actu- 
ally in California. Six months of terrible hard- 
ship had been spent in making the journey from 
Missouri, but now that was all past and they were 
at last in the land of their desire. Their ardor 
was dampened, however, when they learned from 
Dr. Marsh that they should have had passports 
to come into the country; that otherwise foreigners 
and especially Americans were forbidden to enter. 
Nor were their minds eased at all when the Mexi- 
can officials learned of their presence at the ranch. 
For a time it looked as if an attempt might be 
made to send them back across the mountains. 
Whether the authorities realized the futility of 
trying any such tactics as these or whether they 



The Coming of the Americans 169 

were stricken with humanity we are not told, but 
the newcomers were finally allowed to remain. 

This was illustrative of the manner in which 
Americans were received in California. In Mex- 
ico they were cordially hated and the strictest pro- 
nunc'iamentos were promulgated entirely excluding 
them from the territory. The local officials, owing 
their positions to the central government, must of 
necessity make some show of carrying out its in- 
structions and in every case they officiously ques- 
tioned and badgered. But by the people of 
California these immigrants were warmly wel- 
comed, not even the imminence of war between 
Mexico and the United States serving to affect in 
the slightest their feeling in the matter. Vallejo 
and Sutter vied with each other in the heartiness 
of their welcome, and the rest of the Californians 
followed their example. The officials, who must 
live among these people, and realized the futility 
of crossing them, could but bend to the popular 
will and shape their course accordingly. 

Beside Bidwell's party many other overland 
trains arrived about this time and soon after. 
Their experiences were in the main like those of the 
party we have followed but as they had no Bidwell 
to report them they have not achieved the fame 
which has come to the first. One other, however, 
the Donner party, has become well known because 
of the hardships its members suffered and the 
frightful incidents connected with its history. 



170 The Story of California 

In April of 1846 a band of thirty-one emigrants 
left Springfield, Illinois, for California. The 
leaders of this party were James F. Reed and two 
brothers, George and Jacob Donner. They made 
the start with ten or twelve wagons but other 
parties joined them on the way so that when they 
reached the Platte River there was a line of forty 
wagons. Most of this enlarged party kept on the 
old Fort Hall road to Oregon and reached Cali- 
fornia in safety, but eighty-seven of them decided 
to take a new route known as " Hastings Cut-off, " 
along the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake. 

This new route was not a road; it was not even 
a trail. Instead of a week as they had planned, 
it took them a month to reach the shore of the 
lake. When they did arrive their animals were 
exhausted and it was evident to all that they had 
nowhere near a sufficient quantity of provisions to 
enable them to reach their goal. Not a man of 
the party but was utterly discouraged. Nobody 
knew what should be done. While the company 
was in this unenviable state quarrels became fre- 
quent. One of these between Reed and John 
Snyder ended in the death of the latter. Reed 
shot him, probably in self-defense, but so bitter 
was the feeling among the other members of the 
party that he was banished. He was given a few 
necessaries before he was sent away, and a thrill- 
ing story is related of his daughter, Virginia, a 
girl of twelve years, who made her way to him 



The Coining of the Americans 171 

out in the desert at night to take him some other 
things her instinct told her he would need. 

What had been discouragement before this oc- 
currence, was converted by it into the blackest of 
despair. Most of the party were ready to give 
up but realized that they were no nearer safety 
by going back than they were by pushing on. At 
this juncture two young men, Charles T. Stanton 
and William McClutchen, volunteered to press 
on to Suttees Fort alone for aid. They started 
and no sooner were they gone than praise of their 
action was drowned in pessimistic prophecies that 
they would never return. They were young men 
who had no one in the party depending upon 
them. Once in safety themselves why should they 
trouble to come back to help others in whom they 
were not interested? But in spite of these black 
forebodings the party struggled on. They made 
their way well up into the Sierras and by the mid- 
dle of October had reached the Truckee River. 
Here they were met by Stanton leading seven 
mules packed with provisions. He had proved 
his heroism and disproved the evil prophecies. 
McClutchen had been deprived of his share of the 
glory of this rescue by an attack of illness which 
confined him to his bed at Sutter's Fort. 

Rejoicing was general but it was not to last 
long. Winter came on a month earlier than usual 
and winter in the Sierras is a monster of dreadful 
aspect. First, it deprived the suffering travelers 



172 The Story of California 

of their wagons. They could not travel through 
the snow. The provisions were packed onto the 
oxen, but it was only a few days before the fall- 
ing snow completely obliterated the trails and 
the despairing men and women began to realize 
that they must face a winter in the mountains. 

Unquestionably much of the later suffering and 
death might have been prevented at this time by 
a determined effort to cross the range at once or 
even adequately to prepare for a winter in camp. 
But there had been dissensions in the party almost 
from the start with the result that there was prac- 
tically no organization. There was no man who 
was either an elected or a natural leader. With 
each head of a family left to shift for himself and 
his own, there were no concerted efforts to accom- 
plish anything. 

In this disorganized condition the party finally 
pitched camp at Donner Lake and no sooner had 
they stopped than the snow began to shut them 
in. Four months they endured the horror — their 
food ran low and then was gone. A party of fif- 
teen, known as the " Last Hope " started forward 
on improvised snowshoes to try and make their 
way through and send aid. The heroic Stanton 
was of this party and sad indeed was his end. As 
the little band struggled on, each man fighting for 
his own life and having not an ounce of reserve 
left to help another, Stanton became numbed by 
the fatigue and cold. He constantly dropped be- 



The Coming of the Americans 173 

hind. But when the party stopped for the night 
he would come staggering in and next morning 
start on with them again. But one evening he 
did not come in. There was none with strength 
to go back to look for him. The following morn- 
ing nothing was said but all started onward. 
Nothing more was ever heard of Stanton. 

Several of the others shared Stanton's fate be- 
fore the party got down out of the snows. A few 
managed to get through, however, and Sutter at 
once sent out a relief party under Captain R. P. 
Tucker. This body of rescuers had almost as 
hard a time to get back to the Lake as the mem- 
bers of the " Last Hope " party did to make their 
way out. They had the great advantage of a 
fresh start, however, and arrived at the camp on 
February 19, 1847. 

Sixty-one had been left here. Several of these 
had died and the condition of the others was 
horrible in the extreme. There was no oppor- 
tunity to dispose of the bodies of the dead for 
outside there was twenty-two feet of snow. This 
was shown later by the stump of a tree that had 
been cut at the time. On some of the corpses 
were the marks of teeth — tell-tale marks, for be- 
fore this all the animals of the party had been 
eaten. There can be little doubt that the hunger 
of these poor beings had driven them to madness 
and that they little knew what they were doing. 

A few days after the arrival of Tucker, a party 



174 The Story of California 

of twenty-three of the strongest started forward. 
Reed, who had made his way through to Sutter's 
Fort, led a second relief party to the rescue, and 
another band, this time seventeen strong, started 
on. This left fourteen at the camp. The rest 
had died and five of this fourteen succumbed to 
the unequal battle before the third relief party 
arrived and started back with five more. 

There were now left at the camp a man named 
Keseburg, a woman named Murphy, George Don- 
ner, who was too ill to travel, and his wife, who 
nobly refused to leave him. The fourth relief 
party found all of these dead but Keseburg, who 
had sustained life by feeding on the bodies of the 
other three. He was afterward accused of kill- 
ing Donner for his money and brought to trial. 
Later the charge was proved untrue. Had Kese- 
burg had any such idea, he must have known that 
in Donner' s condition it was unnecessary, and he 
was acquitted. 

Of the thirty hopeful emigrants who had de- 
parted from Springfield dreaming splendid dreams 
of their new life in this great new country, only 
eighteen reached California. Of the eighty-three 
who were snowed in at the camp at the Lake, 
forty-two perished. 

There were many parties which crossed the 
plains and mountains to California and suffered 
hardships and discouragements just as the Donner 
party did. About 250 persons came by this route 



The Coming of the Americans 175 

in the one year, 1845. Their stories if available 
would many of them be fully as tragic as that of 
the Donner party. But the records of the latter 
are fairly complete and it has long served as the 
type and example of what it meant to come over- 
land to California in the forties. The experi- 
ences of the Donner party were probably worse 
than most of those who made their way through, 
but what shall be said of the hundreds who started 
and were never afterward heard from at all? 



CHAPTER XVI 

FREMONT THE BEAR FLAG I 846 

THIS influx of strangers though not great in 
numbers, was working a rapid change in the 
aspect of affairs in California. The population of 
the territory at that time was small, and its inter- 
ests were not at all vitally bound up with those of 
Mexico. In fact there was undoubtedly a large 
number of people who firmly believed that some 
other sovereignty would be far better for the prog- 
ress of the country. As early as 1835 one °f Cali- 
fornia's early historians, Mr. Forbes, noted the 
severing of the ties, which bound the territory to 
the central government. He said at that time, 
" California, however, is a distinct country from 
Mexico, and has nothing in common with it ex- 
cept that the present inhabitants are of the same 
family." 

This feeling became more and more general as 
the years passed, and to it was added a growing 
conviction, not only that a political change would 
not be at all bad for the country, but that such a 
change was imminent. By June of the year 1846 
this had become a certainty. The only question 
open was what the exact nature of the change 
would be. It must either be independence or the 

176 



Fremont — The Bear Flag 177 

substitution of the sovereignty of some other 
power for that of Mexico. Independence was 
never seriously considered, perhaps because the 
inhabitants of the territory knew it was an im- 
possibility. The United States was the most 
frequently mentioned as the most natural and 
probable solution of the problem. There were 
present a large number of her citizens, and she 
was the nearest power. But France, and more es- 
pecially England, each had an eye on California, 
and there can be no question but that either would 
have been only too glad to have acquired it if 
such an acquisition had not meant a war with the 
United States. 

It may well be asked, What were the Mexican 
authorities doing in the face of all this treasonable 
sentiment? The local officials strongly protested 
their loyalty to Mexico and frowned upon any 
suggestion of a change in the political relations of 
the country. But even for this they seldom could 
spare the time. The history of California for the 
year 1845 and the first half of 1846 is entirely 
occupied with the petty controversies of Pico and 
Castro. In their personal quarrels were involved 
all the old dissensions that had divided the coun- 
try ever since the beginning of the Mexican regime. 
It was the military against the civil authorities; 
the North against the South; Monterey against 
Los Angeles. In this unsettled condition of the 
territory any uprising which had any strength at 



178 The Story of California 

all was likely to succeed because of sheer weak- 
ness upon the part of the government. 

While Castro and Pico were quarreling at a 
safe distance from each other, a band of explorers, 
sixty strong, was crossing the Rocky Mountains. 
They were searching under the auspices of the 
United States government for the best routes to 
the Pacific, and were in command of Lieutenant 
Colonel John Charles Fremont of the United 
States Army Corps of Engineers.* March 8, 
1845, tn i s party arrived at Sutter's Fort and was 

*John Charles Fremont was born at Savannah, Georgia, 
January 21, 1813. His father was greatly interested in the 
study of the North American Indians and often took his 
family with him on his visits to their villages. Young Fre- 
mont for a time read law and was then put into a school to 
study for the ministry. He excelled in mathematics, however, 
and all his inclinations were toward engineering. After leav- 
ing college, he did not enter the ministry but opened a school 
in Charleston. While conducting this school he was employed 
to survey the rice-field of a wealthy neighbor. So well did 
he perform this task that he was given other and larger 
work in the same line. He soon became a professor of mathe- 
matics in the United States navy, and was later transferred 
to the engineering corps of the army. In July, 1838, he was 
commissioned a second lieutenant of topographical engineers 
and was sent west tq take charge of exploring expeditions. 
In October, 1841, he married Jessie Benton, a daughter of 
Senator Thomas H. Benton of Missouri. This connection 
became of much value to him in his later life. Fremont's 
first expedition was in 1842 from the Missouri River to the 
Rockies. On this expedition he climbed the highest peak of 
that chain. The following year he went still farther west, 
reaching Oregon and California. His reports of these two 
trips are an important contribution to the scientific and geo- 
graphical literature of the time. His third expedition, the 
one which brought him to California to stay, started in the 
fall of 1845. 



Fremont — The Bear Flag 179 

given a cordial welcome. After a few days spent 
in the congenial atmosphere of the fort, the band 
passed on down through the San Joaquin Valley 
and out at the southeastern corner of the terri- 
tory. 

The next year, however, Fremont was back in 
California again. He arrived at Monterey in 
January, when talk of war between the United 
States and Mexico was rife. But war had not 
been declared as yet and these explorers felt 
secure in their position as guests from a friendly 
nation. To be sure, Prefect Castro asked the rea- 
son of the " invasion of his department by Ameri- 
can troops," but Fremont courteously replied that 
his party was not made up of soldiers but that they 
were surveyors, assistants, guides, and the neces- 
sary helpers. The Mexican commandant was fur- 
ther assured that they were in the neighborhood 
simply for the purpose of securing supplies and 
that as soon as this object was accomplished they 
intended to move on into Oregon. 

Castro gave his consent to this course, or at 
least he did not forbid it, and Fremont took the 
consent for granted. He soon had his party un- 
der way, but instead of going north as the author- 
ities expected, it went south and west into the 
fertile and thickly populated valleys near Santa 
Cruz. Castro was greatly angered at this course 
which he could only look upon as perfidious, and 
ordered Fremont to leave California at once, inti- 



180 The Story of California 

mating that unless he did so, the Mexicans would 
take measures to enforce his departure. Fre- 
mont chose to consider himself outraged also, con- 
struing Castro's tacit consent to his going to Ore- 
gon into permission to roam over California at 
will. Therefore, when he received the command- 
ant's threatening messages, he did not even deign 
to make a written answer, but simply sent back his 
verbal refusal to comply. His men immediately 
fortified Gavilan Peak, a small mountain with 
steep sides, raised the American flag, and bade 
Castro do his worst. 

Of course this action on the part of the young 
Colonel was entirely unwarranted and inexcusable 
but it serves to show the fearless and determined 
character of the man. The little band watched 
through their glasses for several days the gather- 
ing of the Mexican troops. Castro had called for 
volunteers and about two hundred men had an- 
swered the call. They were not at all eager to 
attack American plainsmen behind log redoubts, 
however, and no advance was made upon Fre- 
mont. The latter's forces were becoming fearful 
of the failure of their water supply, and withdrew 
from the Peak, retiring to New Helvetia. The 
Californians loudly proclaimed their " victory," 
but made no attempt to pursue the retreating 
Americans. The latter left Sutter's Fort March 
24 for Oregon. 

About this time there arrived in the department 



Fremont — The Bear Flag 181 

a lieutenant of the United States army, Archibald 
Gillespie by name. He made inquiries as to the 
whereabouts of Colonel Fremont, and learning 
that he had left for Oregon, set out to find him. 
Gillespie overtook Fremont's party just after they 
had suffered the loss of three of their number by 
a treacherous attack of Indians whom they had 
been led to believe were friendly. Gillespie de- 
livered to his superior officer certain dispatches 
and letters whose contents are now unknown but 
which have been the subject of almost endless con- 
tention between the supporters and detractors of 
the " gallant Fremont." But while the exact na- 
ture of the dispatches is not known, we do know 
that he immediately retraced his steps to Sutter's 
Fort and gave up any intention of going on to 
Oregon at that time. 

Very shortly after Fremont's return to the Fort, 
a party of filibusters seized, near San Francisco, a 
convoy of horses from Mexican troops under 
Lieutenant Arce. This was an act of war though 
no one knew as yet that the Mexican government 
was at war with any power. The next startling 
event occurred at Sonoma. General Vallejo was 
the principal figure in this part of the country, and 
at daybreak on the morning of June 14, he 
awoke to find his house surrounded by a band of 
rough-looking men dressed in leather hunting cos- 
tume. He went out and demanded their business. 
Receiving no answer, he invited the leaders into 



182 The Story of California 

his house. These included Ezekiel Merritt and 
Dr. Semple. The others impatiently waited out- 
side for nearly an hour. They finally decided to 
investigate and appointed William B. Ide to go in 
and report. He found all within moderately 
drunk with the moderation decreasing as fast as 
Vallejo's good wine could decrease it. His report 
of these facts caused a commotion outside and the 
Vallejos, father and son, came out. They asked 
to whom they were to surrender. No one knew. 
Some lost heart, began to fear the consequences of 
their action, and talked of returning to their 
homes, but Ide grasped the situation. He told 
his companions that if they stopped now they were 
no better than brigands and would be treated as 
such, but if they went on and won they would be 
the saviors of California. 

This speech carried the day and made Ide the 
leader of the Bear Flag Revolution, for by this 
name the uprising started by this band of thirty- 
two American ranchers came to be known. The 
Vallejos and their secretary were seized and 
taken to Sacramento, where they were kept in 
ignominious confinement in rough and inconven- 
ient quarters for two months in defiance of all 
justice and reason, and in sorry requital of Valle- 
jo's kindness to Americans. 

Ide and his followers after disposing of the 
Vallejos proceeded to the formation of a scheme 
of government for the " California Republic." 



Fremont — The Bear Flag 183 

This was accomplished by conferring the powers 
of government upon the commander, and elect- 
ing two lieutenants to assist him in their adminis- 
tration. The need of a banner was felt and the 
famous Bear Flag was brought forth to supply 
the need. A star and stripe were to be expected 
on the flag of any modern republic, but it was 
necessary to add something to these characteristics 
to distinguish the emblem from that of Texas. A 
grizzly bear was suggested and met with enthu- 
siastic approval. The first flag was made of white 
cotton with a red flannel stripe across the top. A 
star was painted in in red and the bear in black. 
Some critics held that the animal looked more like 
a pig. Bancroft feels certain, however, that such 
suggestions can only come from those who have 
no respect for the feelings of the pig. Another 
necessary feature of any governmental act in Cali- 
fornia was a proclamation. On the 15th of June 
Ide issued a very wordy one which contained many 
splendid generalizations, with the idea of putting 
the revolutionists in the right light before the 
world. 

While this progress was being made on the 
political side, the military side of the revolution 
saw less activity. No more battles were fought. 
There were several skirmishes which savored 
strongly of plundering expeditions and both sides 
laid themselves open to charges of cold-blooded 
murder. On the whole, however, the revolution 



184 The Story of California 

was well conducted and those were very few who 
were substantially injured by any phase of it. 

On July 4 a great public celebration was held 
at Sonoma at which the country was declared inde- 
pendent. Martial law was proclaimed, and an 
oath was taken to obey the officers. The success 
of the revolution was now assured and the credit 
for this success was William Ide's. What then 
was his chagrin, when, at the very threshold of 
his reward, Fremont calmly put himself at the 
head of the movement and Ide found himself 
shouldered out of office and out of public notice. 
His greatness was gone forever. We can but 
sympathize with his righteous anger at his fate, 
while recognizing that he was almost wholly un- 
fitted for leadership. He was an uneducated 
dreamer who spent his time during his brief career 
as a ruler forming plans for a Utopian republic in 
which everything should be perfect, and which 
should be conducted without any interference at 
all from such a thing as human nature. His plan 
was independence and then annexation. He bit- 
terly exclaimed that from the time of Fremont's 
intrusion into the leadership the whole character 
of the movement was lowered. 

Fremont's term as the head of the new republic 
was destined to be extremely brief, for five days 
after his assumption of the dignities of office, news 
came to Sonoma of the capture of Monterey by 



Fremont — The Bear Flag 185 

the Americans, and the Stars and Stripes went to 
the masthead to take the place of the Bear Flag 
which fluttered down never to rise again. 

The position of Colonel Fremont throughout 
the Bear Flag Revolt was an equivocal one, and 
even today his motives are not at all clear. That 
he aided and abetted in every way the men who 
took an active part in the movement there can be 
no question. But he would commit no overt act 
himself nor allow himself to be drawn into the 
affair publicly until its success was assured. His 
actions have been the theme of almost endless con- 
troversies among his fellow-citizens, his fellow- 
politicians, and California historians. 

There is a story which was given currency by 
Fremont himself, and has been frequently re- 
peated, to the effect that Lieutenant Gillespie, 
when he overtook Fremont on his way to Oregon, 
carried secret dispatches from the United States 
government which ordered him to return to Cali- 
fornia and bring about a political upheaval. But 
if there were any such dispatches they were 
directly contrary to instructions sent by the same 
messenger from the same authority to Thomas O. 
Larkin, the American consul at Monterey. Lar- 
kin's instructions were to bring about the peaceful 
separation of the territory from Mexico and its 
annexation to the United States. In view of this 
evidence Fremont's attempt to give the impression 



186 The Story of California 

that he was acting under instructions from the 
authorities at Washington must fail. 

When all phases of the matter are examined it 
is hard to avoid the conviction that Fremont's 
strongest motive throughout the affair was that of 
personal ambition. He expected the news of a 
declaration of war at any moment and thought by 
taking immediate action to gain for himself the 
honor of the conquest of California. If war was 
not declared his leadership promised prominence 
in an independent California republic. He took 
the risk, and if this was his true motive he must 
have been well satisfied with the result, for it made 
him a popular hero, a major-general, a millionaire, 
a Senator of the United States, and a candidate 
for the presidency. 

As an event in the social progress of California 
the Bear Flag revolution was a startling develop- 
ment. It was utterly at variance with the policy of 
the United States in regard to the territory. The 
time for action was queerly chosen, as news of 
war was daily expected. The whole movement 
was ill-timed and ill-advised. The usual reason 
assigned by its apologists, self-defense on the part 
of American settlers against the oppression of 
Castro, is hardly sufficient. To be sure he had 
ordered all Americans not naturalized to leave 
the country, thus virtually giving them their choice 
between death in the country and death in the 
mountains, but there were few indeed of the set- 



Fremont — The Bear Flag 187 

tiers who did not realize that these orders were 
mere empty bluster and that it was utterly impos- 
sible for Castro to enforce them. Perhaps a very 
small number of the revolutionists acted honestly 
in this belief. But many of them were adventurers 
pure and simple. They were reckless men with 
nothing to lose, and the turmoil of a revolution 
always made opportunities to seize some advan- 
tage. Another class of adventurers, slightly bet- 
ter than the last, sought office under a new dis- 
pensation, believing that California manifestly 
belonged to the United States and the quicker it 
was brought in the better. 

These men regarded the Californians as an in- 
ferior race who must be taught the blessings of 
liberty under the American flag. They were all 
filibusters and entitled to none of the praise which 
the world so gladly affords to honest revolutionists 
struggling against oppression. Some have at- 
tempted to give credit to them for effecting the 
change to the control of the United States, but, 
in fact, the movement had nothing to do with 
the conquest, which would have gone on exactly 
the same without it. On the contrary it is the Bear 
Flag incident that marks the beginning of all the 
degradation and oppression of the Californians by 
the Americans. From that time the two races mis- 
understood and hated each other. Without Fre- 
mont's misguided activities, Larkin would un- 
doubtedly have brought about the conquest of 



188 The Story of California 

California freed from this misunderstanding and 
hatred. In all the list of Americans who had to 
do with the conquest and early administration of 
California, the name of Thomas O. Larkin alone 
stands above criticism. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE AMERICAN CONQUEST I 846 

COR nearly forty years several of the great na- 
*• tions of the world had been growing into a 
realization of the fact that along the Pacific Coast 
of North America there lay a country rich in the 
things that make a country worth having. To be 
sure this country had always been a source of 
expense and never of any profit to Spain, but she 
had lost it before the time for reaping the harvest 
came. Mexico, her successor, was blind to the 
value of her northern territory and made no effort 
either to develop the country or to strengthen the 
ties that bound it to the central government. It 
was evident to all long before the summer of 1846 
that the country was under the control of a lazy 
and unenterprising people, and that it would surely 
soon pass into other hands. 

The question as to whose hands it would pass 
into long remained an open one. The soft climate 
and fertile soil, in so many ways like her own, 
were attractive to France. Russia had always had 
in mind an advance from Bodega Bay which would 
take in the San Francisco Bay district. England 
wanted the control of the splendid harbors on the 
coast. And the United States had been keeping 

189 



190 The Story of California 

a very close watch on everything which transpired 
in California ever since the Lewis and Clark 
expedition as far back as 1806. Even the year 
before that there must have been some demon- 
stration, because in 1805 a militia company of 
seventy men was formed to defend the country 
against " Yankee " schemes of conquest. 

The attention of the people of the United 
States was first drawn to California by the gen- 
eral use of San Francisco as a port by the New 
England whalers. Captain William Shaler pub- 
lished in the United States in 1808 an account of 
his visit to California. He remarked that " under 
a good government the Californias would soon 
rise to ease and affluence." In his opinion the 
territory would be an easy prey to some foreign 
nation, and he did not hide his conviction that the 
United States should be that nation. 

While it is impossible to determine the actual 
plans which the rulers of France, England and 
the United States had formed in regard to Cali- 
fornia, it is certain that its advantages were recog- 
nized by all of them. And it was equally well 
understood that it could not long remain under 
the control of Mexico. The Americans always 
took it for granted that sooner or later California 
would belong to the United States. In their minds 
there was an idea that their country had a natural 
right to this western shore line. The Monroe 
Doctrine kept the European powers at a distance. 




-t- 



o 
u 

u 

fa 



■ft. 



1*, 



The American Conquest 191 

They did not want California at the price of a 
war with the United States. And yet they did not 
entirely give up hope that some turn of fate would 
throw the country into their hands. It was the 
keenness and evident anxiety with which the Eng- 
lish were watching developments in California 
that led Commodore Jones into his premature rais- 
ing of the American flag at Monterey in 1842. 
The Britons were expected at any moment and 
prompt action was necessary. Jones thought best 
to err on the side of action. 

Although this procedure of Commodore Jones 
was disavowed by the United States, it plainly 
showed the feeling of the American people with 
regard to California. There were other indica- 
tions just as strong or even stronger. During 
Andrew Jackson's administration a proposal was 
made to Mexico to purchase all of northern Cali- 
fornia and the emissary of the United States was 
authorized to offer probably $5,000,000 for terri- 
tory which should include San Francisco Bay. This 
transaction was prevented by the British. Presi- 
dent Polk after his inauguration was outspoken in 
his conviction that the acquisition of California 
was one of the four principal objects of his admin- 
istration. A second attempt was made to pur- 
chase the territory through John Slidell but it 
failed like the first. Then came the instructions 
to Thomas O. Larkin, the American consul at 
Monterey, to bring about a peaceful defection of 



192 The Story of California 

the territory from Mexico and its immediate an- 
nexation to the United States. Such instructions 
to a consul to a friendly nation cannot be regarded 
as highly creditable to the honor of the Washing- 
ton government, but they show to what extent 
the determination to have California at any price 
had grown. 

Although this determination was shared by all 
factions in the United States, the terms of the 
admission of the country were the center of a 
struggle in the halls of congress far more severe 
than any which was expected in California itself. 
The all-absorbing question at the time was slavery. 
To this vast moral and economic problem prac- 
tically all of the thinking minds in the United 
States were turned. The members of the Senate 
were equally divided between the North and the 
South, and so equally divided on the great ques- 
tion. Each side wanted California to come in 
under the system to which it was devoted. Neither 
would give in. Yet they were agreed that the 
territory must be acquired, and preparations and 
expectations went on. 

As to the preparations which might be made 
by Mexico and California for the change which 
even they must have seen impending, there were 
practically none. One instance shows the unpre- 
pared condition of the territory for defense and 
the utter futility of any attempts at preparation. 
When Texas became annexed to the United 



The American Conquest 193 

States the Mexican minister instructed Governor 
Micheltorena to prepare for the defense of Cali- 
fornia. These instructions he carried out by im- 
mediately removing all the cannon at Monterey 
out of reach of the expected invaders and for 
more than a week the capital of California was 
the scene of constant activity on the part of his 
cholo army, which was ready to retreat at a 
moment's notice. Many of the inhabitants had 
also removed their effects into the interior because 
they feared not the Americans, but the excesses 
of the cholos. 

At last the long-expected storm broke. After 
several skirmishes between the opposing forces, 
the United States declared, on May 13, 1846, that 
war existed by act of Mexico. But the object of 
the war was so thinly veiled that this declaration 
deceived no one. The acquisition of California 
was almost openly avowed by officials as the pri- 
mary object and the occupation of the territory 
was one of the first matters to receive the atten- 
tion of the authorities at Washington. 

Commodore John D. Sloat was in command of 
the Pacific squadron, which consisted of seven ves- 
sels and a transport. This fleet was in Central 
American waters when its commander received 
through Dr. William M. Wood, a surgeon in the 
United States navy, the news of battles being 
fought on the frontier. Commodore Sloat pro- 
ceeded at once with his fleet to Monterey, where 



194 The Story of California 

he arrived July 2. He met with no opposition 
whatever and on July 7, 1846, he landed 250 men, 
raised the American flag over the town amid the 
booming of a salute of twenty-one guns, and pro- 
claimed the conquest by the United States. He 
had already sent orders to Captain Montgomery 
in command of the Portsmouth at Yerba Buena 
to do the same thing at San Francisco, and the 
flag flew over that port on July 9, seventy ma- 
rines being landed to take the place. The same 
day the Bear Flag fluttered down at Sonoma and 
the Stars and Stripes were raised in its stead. 

Sloat issued a proclamation requesting all Cali- 
fornia officials to continue the administration of 
their offices and asked that everything be con- 
tinued as usual until a new government could be 
established. Captain Thomas Fallon captured 
San Jose on July 13. On the 15th, Commodore 
Stockton arrived from Honolulu and four days 
later Fremont came down from the north. He 
organized what was known as the California Bat- 
talion of Mounted Riflemen who did much to 
bring about the conquest of the country without a 
battle. 

Stockton, who had succeeded Sloat in command, 
accepted the services of this battalion, adopted the 
acts of the Bear Flag Revolt, and determined to 
pursue the conquest by taking the interior towns. 
Fremont was despatched to San Diego, which he 
took without resistance on the 29th. Stockton 



The American Conquest 195 

himself occupied Santa Barbara on August 4, and 
San Pedro on the 6th. From here he prepared to 
attack Los Angeles, the capital of the province. 
Governor Pico, and Castro, the commandant, fled, 
and the flag of the United States was raised at 
Los Angeles without opposition on August 13. 

Meanwhile Stockton had fallen a victim to the 
Californian habit of issuing proclamations. The 
first appeared July 29, and contained many un- 
called for and offensive references to the natives. 
These aspersions were inspired by Fremont who 
took advantage of the Commodore's ignorance of 
the real situation and reliance upon him, to strike 
at his own enemies. On August 17, a second 
proclamation was issued which in exaggerated 
terms declared California free from Mexico and 
that it was a military conquest of the United 
States. Stockton's attitude in emphasizing the 
occupation as a conquest is indefensible, for he 
nowhere met with the slightest resistance. 

September 2 the Commodore appointed Fre- 
mont military commander of the territory. He 
was convinced that the^entire country was quiet 
and that the American conquest was complete. 
His plan was to appoint Fremont as civil gov- 
ernor and leaving him in charge, to sail himself 
to conduct operations upon the coast of Mexico. 
This appointment he made, despatching Kit Car- 
son to Washington with messages stating the con- 
dition of the territory and the steps he had taken 



196 The Story of California 

to establish a government. This done he and 
Fremont went north again. 

Commodore Stockton was probably warranted 
in his assumption that the country was conquered 
and that there would be no fighting, but neverthe- 
less, such was not to be the case. Toward the 
end of September, John Brown, after a famous 
ride on horseback, brought the news to Monterey 
that there was an uprising at Los Angeles and 
that Gillespie, who was in command there, was 
hard pressed. The Lieutenant had about fifty 
men and ordinarily this would have been a suffi- 
cient force to hold the town. But as has already 
been seen, Los Angeles was the home of a very 
turbulent population and trouble was inevitable 
if Gillespie tried to preserve order. This of 
course he attempted and the natives besieged his 
garrison. 

The trouble began at the Chino ranch of Isaac 
Williams on September 26. Here about seventy 
Californians of tougher fibre than most had cap- 
tured about twenty Americans who had little or no 
ammunition. This skirmish was not of any impor- 
tance as far as the direct results were concerned, 
but its moral effect upon the Californians was 
tremendous. It had demonstrated that they could 
defeat the Americans if they were in sufficient 
numbers. While heretofore the Californians had 
derided Fremont's men as bears and the Ameri- 
can marines as clowns, still they did not dare to 



The American Conquest 197 

meet them in open fight. The Americans, on the 
other hand, regarded the Californians as gueril- 
las who never could be made to fight. Each side 
had underrated the other. But this skirmish at 
the Chino ranch had served to convince the na- 
tives that they were correct in their estimate of 
the invaders and gave them new boldness. 

They besieged Gillespie at Los Angeles and it 
did not take the Lieutenant long to come to the 
conclusion that the best thing he could do was to 
retire. This he was given permission to do, and 
was at the same time guaranteed against molesta- 
tion while he withdrew. Gillespie made his way 
from Los Angeles to San Pedro and embarked 
on the merchant ship Vandal'ia. He did this 
with the greatest deliberation and for his slow- 
ness was accused of bad faith by the Mexicans. 
It is quite possible that he did not hurry matters 
in the hope that a war ship might arrive and save 
the situation, but no ship came. His evacuation 
was followed by that of the small garrisons at 
San Diego and Santa Barbara. 

All southern California was now up in arms 
against the invaders. Jose Maria Flores had been 
elected governor and had taken the lead in the 
movement. He directed the military operations 
between San Pedro and Los Angeles when Cap- 
tain Mervine attempted to retrieve the fortunes 
of the United States in the south. Mervine ar- 
rived at the harbor of San Pedro in command of 



198 The Story of California 

the Savannah on October 6. He landed 350 
marines and with Gillespie's fifty men, set out to 
recapture the southern capital. But the Califor- 
nians had driven away every horse from the vicin- 
ity of the port. While only 200 strong them- 
selves they were splendidly mounted. They had 
one small cannon which was trained on the road 
near the Dominguez ranch. When the Americans 
came within range, this gun was fired and then 
hauled back out of reach, as it had been tied 
by lariats to the saddle horns of several of the 
Mexicans. When a safe distance had been cov- 
ered it was reloaded and when the Americans had 
again marched up within its range, was again fired. 
This performance was repeated until six of the 
Americans had fallen. The bravery of the ma- 
rines was unavailing in this kind of warfare and 
Mervine ordered a retreat. They retired carry- 
ing their wounded and the bodies of the dead with 
them. The latter they buried on a small island 
in the harbor.* 

Commodore Stockton arrived at San Pedro on 
October 23, and because of the lack of horses 
there decided not to run the risk of repeating 
Mervine's experience but to go on to San Diego 
and direct operations against Los Angeles from 



* Bancroft says that this island owes its present appella- 
tion, "Dead Man's Island," to this circumstance; but R. H. 
Dana in his "Two Years Before the Mast," written in 1836 
speaks of it by this name and tells of an English captain who 
was buried there. 



The American Conquest 199 

that point. A force of over 800 men, the largest 
military gathering yet seen in California, was 
mobilized at San Diego in the early part of No- 
vember, preparatory to a move on the southern 
capital. 

While these events were transpiring, General 
Stephen W. Kearny had entered California from 
New Mexico by way of the Colorado River. He 
had left Santa Fe with over 300 men under orders 
to proceed to California, wrest the territory from 
Mexico, and hold it for the United States. On 
his way to the coast he met Kit Carson bearing 
despatches to Washington from Stockton. Gen- 
eral Kearny learned from this famous scout that 
the conquest of California had already been com- 
pleted and that the territory was in the peaceful 
possession of the forces of the United States. 
Also he learned what a poor opinion Carson held 
of the native Californians ; how they were cowards 
and would not fight. He therefore sent back to 
Santa Fe all but 1 20 of his men. 

It will be remembered that Carson had left 
Los Angeles on his mission to the government at 
Washington before the revolt in the south was 
begun. He knew nothing and could guess noth- 
ing of the disturbance which had broken out since 
his departure. General Kearny marched forward 
therefore with a diminished force into the midst 
of a troubled situation for which he was totally 
unprepared. Early in December he was brought 



200 The Story of California 

to a realization of his mistake, which came very 
near having a disastrous ending. 

Captain Andres Pico had been sent south by 
Flores to harass Stockton at San Diego and to 
keep horses and supplies away from the Ameri- 
cans. On the night of December 5 he encamped 
with his small body of troops at the Indian pueblo 
of San Pascual in Kearny's immediate vicinity. 
Kearny learned that these men were there, before 
Pico knew of his approach. The American gen- 
eral determined to advance in the morning and 
drive back what he chose to consider a band of 
marauders. His men, and more especially his 
animals, were in no condition for a fight as they 
were almost exhausted from their trip across the 
desert. Many of his men were even mounted on 
mules because of the scarcity of horses. But 
Kearny was convinced from Carson's stories that 
a loud noise was all that was necessary to defeat 
the Californians. 

As his advance guard of fifteen men came to the 
top of the hill overlooking Pico's camp, Kearny, 
in the full confidence of his ignorance, ordered 
a charge, expecting to see the enemy flee as Car- 
son had told him they would do. But Carson's 
experience was before Chino, and the retreat from 
Los Angeles, and Mervine's disaster at Domin- 
quez Rancho. To be sure the Californians re- 
treated: they fled. But in the first exchange of 
volleys they had killed Captain Johnston, who was 



The American Conquest 201 

in command of the advance guard. The Ameri- 
cans galloped on in reckless pursuit of the de- 
spised and flying enemy but soon began to realize 
the weakness of their condition. Mounted on 
fresh horses, the Californians easily distanced 
their pursuers. The latter, because of the ex- 
hausted condition of their mounts, were drawn 
out into a long straggling line. 

Suddenly the apparently defeated Californians 
wheeled upon their enemies. As they came up one 
by one the long lances of the natives did deadly 
execution. The firearms of the Americans had 
been discharged in the first rush and there had 
been no chance to reload. Clubbed guns and 
sabres in the hands of poorly mounted soldiers 
were no match for long sharp lances in the hands 
of the world's finest horsemen. The Americans, 
coming up in increasing numbers, finally drove off 
their assailants but eighteen of their own men lay 
dead upon the field. Nineteen more were seriously 
wounded. The Mexican loss was about twelve 
wounded. 

The Americans camped on the field and could 
perhaps claim the day. But it was a Pyrrhian vic- 
tory; its fruits were nothing. The next morning 
the weary troops set out for San Diego but were 
almost immediately surrounded upon a mesa near 
San Bernardo by a large force of Mexicans. They 
were cooped up there for several days, but Car- 
son, an Indian, and Lieutenant Beale made their 



202 The Story of California 

way through the hostile lines, reached San Diego, 
and a relief force was sent at once. The Cali- 
fornians retreated in the face of these reinforce- 
ments, and General Kearny and his command 
marched on to San Diego. They arrived there on 
December twelfth, in a most pitiable condition. 
The General was himself confined to his bed for 
many days on account of his severe wounds. 

On December 29, Stockton left San Diego with 
600 men to capture Los Angeles. The Mexicans 
were defeated in a skirmish at San Gabriel on 
January 8, 1847, an ^ there began an artillery duel 
with Flores' men on the outskirts of the city. 
The Californians had one cannon and several 
times their cavalry charged within one hundred 
yards of the American lines. But there was no 
serious opposition and the United States flag was 
again raised over Los Angeles on January 9. Five 
days later Fremont arrived from the north. He 
had received the capitulation of Andres Pico at 
Cahuenga. On Pico's surrender a general am- 
nesty was provided for. 

The conquest of California was at last com- 
plete. There had been various skirmishes in the 
north at Natividad, Los Virjeles, and Santa Clara. 
The revolutionists achieved some successes but 
these were neutralized by dissensions among their 
leaders and with the fall of Los Angeles all re- 
sistance ceased and the Americans held undisputed 
sway. The Americans have seldom figured as 



The American Conquest 203 

conquerors in the sense of winning territory, and 
their taking possession of California shows them 
in a somewhat rare character. It may be seriously 
doubted whether in this instance they appeared to 
much advantage. 

The next problem to be solved was that of 
governing the territory until a treaty fixing its 
destiny should be signed. If any of the inhabit- 
ants thought that with the taking over of the 
country by the Americans they would at last be 
relieved of the constant quarreling among the of- 
ficers of the government from which they had suf- 
fered for nearly a quarter of a century, they were 
to be disappointed. California was not yet to 
see a unified and harmonious administration. 

Stockton and Kearny, soon after the conquest 
was completed, became involved in a controversy 
over the supreme command. The Commodore 
after the first submission had planned a civil gov- 
ernment with Fremont at its head. Had Califor- 
nia but stayed conquered this arrangement would 
no doubt have received the approval of the Wash- 
ington government. But there were two disturbing 
elements. The Californians had arisen against 
the invaders and Kearny had arrived. His in- 
structions were to take possession of California 
and assume command of all troops there includ- 
ing volunteers, and of any which might be sent 
out later; then when the time came, to form a 
civil government. 



204 The Story of California 

Had he pressed his claim when he first arrived, 
all would probably have gone smoothly. But he 
had arrived at San Diego in a disabled con- 
dition and perhaps owing his life and the safety 
of his troops to Commodore Stockton. This of- 
ficer he found in full charge of the preparations 
for the advance on Los Angeles. Under the cir- 
cumstances Kearny felt great delicacy in assert- 
ing any prerogatives which he might have ; in fact 
he refused to take command from the Commo- 
dore at that time. 

After the occupation of Los Angeles, Kearny 
proposed that he then assume the leadership but 
by that time some friction had arisen between 
the two officers and Stockton refused to deliver 
it or to acknowledge that Kearny had ever had 
any orders to supersede him. He claimed that, 
while the army officer's orders were dated after 
his, they had been superseded by new events and 
that he and Fremont had already done the thing 
that Kearny had been sent to do. He also as- 
serted the claim that his original plan of civil 
government still held good and that there was no 
need of Kearny's doing the work over again. 

In pursuance of this line of argument he is- 
sued commissions to Fremont and Russell as gov- 
ernor and secretary of state respectively. This 
drew Fremont into the quarrel and he decided 
to stand by Stockton, though Kearny promised him 
the governorship as soon as he should relinquish 



The American Conquest 205 

it a few months hence. Fremont's action at this 
time afterward resulted in his court-martial and 
dismissal from the army for disobedience to his 
superior officer, the government holding that 
Kearny was right. The trial, however, gave Fre- 
mont great prominence and his brilliant defend- 
ers, Senator Benton and William Carey Jones, suc- 
ceeded in creating a popular feeling for their 
client which afterward made him a candidate for 
the presidency of the United States. President 
Polk remitted the sentence at the time but Fre- 
mont refused to re-enter the army and returned 
to California in 1849 as a private citizen. 

The controversy between the two United States 
officers continued for some time, but Kearny finally 
yielded " to avoid a collision." Shortly after this 
new instructions arrived from Washington con- 
firming his appointment to the supreme command. 
This he at once assumed, much to the discom- 
fiture of the Commodore. Kearny exercised it 
but a short time, however, turning it over to 
Colonel Mason. This was followed by the re- 
moval of the capital to its old location at Mon- 
terey. 

The period immediately following the conquest 
saw the arrival of a large number of newcomers 
to California. These came ostensibly as troops 
but they were in reality colonists. The most 
prominent body of men of this character was the 
Mormon Battalion. It had at one time been 



206 The Story of California 

President Brigham Young's plan to migrate to 
California one hundred thousand strong and per- 
haps gain control of it either as an independent 
commonwealth or as a state of the United States. 
This idea was never carried out in its entirety but 
about five hundred young men of the Mormon 
belief enlisted for service in California and thus 
were taken at government expense to San Fran- 
cisco. As a shipload of their people had been 
landed here the year before, this city bore for a 
time the aspect of a Mormon community. But 
before long almost all of them went down to the 
town of New Hope, which their sect had founded 
on the San Joaquin River. They were a very 
orderly and industrious people and it was thought 
their effort to found a city in this location would 
be successful, but it was soon abandoned, most 
of the settlers making their way back over the 
mountains to Utah. 

Another battalion was that of the New York 
Volunteers who had enlisted with the express 
understanding that they might be " discharged 
without a claim for returning home wherever they 
may be serving at the end of the war providing 
it is in the then territory of the United States." 
California was so plainly indicated that they were 
universally considered as an emigrant party under 
government auspices. At any rate no member of 
the battalion had a thought or dream of fighting. 
They arrived in San Francisco in March, 1847, 



The American Conquest 207 

and after doing garrison duty for about a year in 
various parts of California, were mustered out to 
become citizens of the new territory. This body 
consisted of a very fair average class of young 
men from almost every walk of life. There were 
some undesirable characters, but on the whole 
they were a welcome addition to the population 
at that time. 

When the armistice of February 29, 1848, was 
signed by the representatives of the United States 
and Mexico, all hostilities were suspended between 
the two warring nations. Pio Pico, who was gov- 
ernor of California at the time the storm of Ameri- 
can invasion broke, took advantage of this ar- 
mistice quietly to return to his former haunts with 
the announcement that he had come to resume 
the governorship. He did not get it. He was 
arrested, but after a week's confinement consented 
to give up his lofty ambitions and was released. 

The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was ratified 
at Washington March 10, and at Querataro May 
30, 1848. This ended the war and transferred 
California permanently to the United States. The 
good news was received in California on August 6. 
California thus became United States territory not 
by conquest but by treaty. 

The government in the meantime was a military 
one maintained by the invaders. Pending the 
treaty the old system of local administration had 
been kept in force in so far as that was possible. 



208 The Story of California 

It was the universal expectation that Congress 
would provide for a government immediately 
after the treaty was signed. Governor Mason 
announced that this would be done. President 
Polk explained the necessity of it in his message 
to Congress. But the old question which continu- 
ally arose to frustrate the possibility of any united 
and disinterested action in regard to California 
again came to the fore. The struggle over the 
slavery question prevented anything being done, 
and much to the dismay of the Californians the 
national legislature adjourned without talcing any 
action on the matter. President Polk to prevent 
anarchy proclaimed a de facto government and 
continued Governor Mason in command. There 
was no warrant in law for this action, but it was 
absolutely necessary under the circumstances, and 
everyone interested accepted it as such without 
question. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD I 848 

UNTIL the beginning of 1848 the great in- 
terior valleys of California were almost en- 
tirely undisturbed by civilization and had been ex- 
plored only in the most cursory manner. As we 
have seen, the only settlement of large importance 
in the interior was Sutter's Fort. It was the great 
trading and distributing point for the neighboring 
country, and became more and more important as 
the rendezvous of Americans coming into Califor- 
nia. Captain Sutter was the chief personage not 
only in the settlement itself, but in all the sur- 
rounding country. There were only about three 
hundred other whites in the vicinity and these were 
all directly or indirectly dependent upon Sutter's 
activities. 

Among these white men who were working with 
Sutter was James W. Marshall. He was a native 
of New Jersey, and a wheelwright by trade, quiet, 
industrious, honest, but slow and queer, with a 
disposition almost morose. Upon his arrival at 
the Fort, he had entered Sutter's employ. One 
of the latter's wants was a saw-mill. He had 
been for some time looking for a good site and 
the proper man to take charge of the operations. 

209 



210 The Story of California 

He finally decided upon a site at Coloma, about 
forty miles above the fort, and late in the year 
1847 ne chose Marshall as his partner to super- 
intend the work of erecting the mill. 

The dam had been completed, but difficulties 
appeared in trying to keep the tail-race free from 
obstruction. It was found necessary to open the 
sluice-gate every night to allow the debris which 
had collected during the day to wash through. 
On the morning of January 24, 1848, Marshall 
went out to close the gate preparatory to begin- 
ning the day's work. Some tiny particles of metal- 
lic dust caught his eye. He thought of the 
possibility of its being gold and tested it in the 
simplest way he could think of. He pounded it 
with a hammer and it did not break but worked 
out into a thin piece. At this even Marshall be- 
came somewhat excited. He put as much of the 
dust as he could hastily gather into his pouch and 
rode with all speed over to the fort. 

He and Sutter locked themselves in a room and 
applied to the metal all the tests which they knew 
and had the means of making. It stood every one 
of them and they were convinced that it was gold. 
By a subtle intuition Sutter seemed to realize at 
once the terrible import of the discovery for him, 
and he slept little that night. If it was gold and 
the intelligence became general, his men would 
with one accord rush to the mill to gather the 
precious stuff and leave him without help to man- 




SUTTER'S MILL 
(From an old print) 



The Discovery of Gold 211 

age his now vast interests. Only too well was 
this prophetic thought realized and the discovery 
which meant so much to thousands of other men 
brought ruin to this pioneer. 

It was at first thought that the gold might be 
present in small quantities only, but Henry Big- 
ler found other traces in the neighborhood of the 
mill, and when Sutter himself made a trip over 
there to investigate he found indications of the 
precious metal all over the district. He resolved 
to keep the great secret for a time at least, think- 
ing in this way to control the output. All the 
men at the mill were enjoined to remain silent on 
the subject. But it was too portentous a matter 
for any man to keep within his own bosom, and 
Sutter himself told several friends about it. 

He also despatched a messenger to Monterey 
to interview Governor Mason and obtain the title 
to the lands on which gold had been found. This 
man spent an evening at Benicia in convivial com- 
pany and soon forgot his employer's urgent in- 
junction to observe the strictest silence as to the 
nature of his mission. If a sober man could not 
keep the secret a drunken one could not be ex- 
pected to, and the wonderful intelligence was given 
to the world. From the beginning the news spread 
over California like wildfire. Before the mes- 
senger could make his way back to the Fort, pros- 
pectors began to arrive at the mills with pick and 
shovel. 



212 The Story of California 

Meanwhile the men who were employed there 
had not been idle. Every moment which was not 
required to be devoted to their work was spent 
in digging in every nook in the rocks with pocket 
knives. Under these efforts the boundaries of the 
field were soon extended. Every place the search- 
ers tried they found new quantities of the precious 
metal. It was not long before they found that 
they could make more in a day by hunting for gold 
than they could by working for wages. One by 
one they dropped off and work at the mill ceased. 

More steady going people at first refused to 
credit the story of a gold discovery or to consider 
it as anything of importance. The newspapers of 
San Francisco barely mentioned the fact without 
comment of any kind. But the subtle excitement 
spread. It claimed one victim after another. Little 
was said, but first one man, then another, quietly 
disposed his affairs and left for the mines, to 
make sure for himself just how things stood. The 
mystery of these departures added immensely to 
their importance. The excitement grew apace. 
Then these investigators who had departed so 
silently began to return well-laden with the pre- 
cious dust. No more was there any silence. 
Wonderful were the tales they told of the bound- 
less wealth to be had for the picking up. 

By the early part of May, 1848, San Francisco 
had become a center of men gone mad. It would 
have been impossible to restrain the excitement 



The Discovery of Gold 213 

even if any attempt had been made to do so. 
Doubters and disbelievers joined the enthusiastic 
in one mad rush for the diggings. Every avail- 
able means of transportation was pressed into 
service by every known route. Within three days 
an exodus of startling proportions was in full 
career. Husband left wife ; father, children ; ser- 
vants, masters; and the masters followed. Even 
the newspapers suspended publication for lack of 
printers. If they had been able to find printers, 
it would have benefited them little for there were 
no readers. By the middle of June three-quarters 
of San Francisco's population had left for the 
gold fields. 

Business was paralyzed. Prices of everything 
but mining equipment dropped to nothing. Food, 
clothing, and the necessary prospector's tools 
soared to unbelievable figures. Other towns all 
through the state caught the infection and followed 
rapidly in the lead of San Francisco. Their con- 
dition was like that of the harbor city. Offices, 
council-chambers and churches were all alike de- 
serted. Merchants abandoned their stocks; the 
judge his bench; the doctor his patients, and the 
patients became miraculously restored to health 
and followed; even the criminal, with none to 
watch him, slipped his fetters and escaped; all 
to make their way northward to the fields which 
their imagination pictured to be of shining gold. 
The machinery of government at Monterey faded 



214 The Story of California 

almost out of sight and it was rumored that 
the Governor-general of California was forced to 
cook his own dinner. 

Some cooler heads remained calm amidst all 
the furor. One old Mexican advised his sons to 
stay on their lands for he said, " God has given 
this gold to the Americans. Had he desired us 
to have it, He would have given it to us ere now. 1 ' 
Others, too, saw the wealth to be gained by sup- 
plying the masses of gold-seekers with food and 
other necessaries, and held themselves in check 
to travel a less exciting but surer road to wealth. 

Among these we might expect to find Sutter and 
Marshall. But such was not the case. They 
were neither of them big enough men to grasp 
and hold the opportunities given them. Sutter had 
played many a crafty trick but he had had a dif- 
ferent kind of opponent from those with whom 
he now had to deal. The gold discovery, instead 
of adding to his wealth, tore from his grasp even 
that which he had already accumulated. Mar- 
shall, though he found the first gold, was pursued 
by ill-luck in his search for more. At last his lack 
of fortune began to prey upon his mind; he be- 
came obsessed with the idea that he owned all of 
the precious metal which was found. His petu- 
lance became unbearable, and he was driven from 
one camp to another until he died in poverty.* 

* Some discoveries of gold were recorded in California 
before Marshall's. In 1795, three prospects were discovered in 



The Discovery of Gold 215 

the San Francisco jurisdiction. Metal was found in but one 
of them and it was never developed. Governor Sola in 1818 
reported that most of the mountains of his province contained 
traces of metal. The Ortega mine near Monterey had pro- 
duced some silver, and a few good specimens of gold had been 
found. In 1842 considerable excitement prevailed at Los 
Angeles because of a find in that neighborhood. Searchers 
secured about $2 a day for a time, but the supply was soon 
exhausted. 



CHAPTER XIX 

FORTY-NINE 

BY VARIOUS ways the news of the great dis- 
covery traveled abroad. Ships took it by 
sea, the Mormons carried it over the Sierras, cour- 
iers were despatched from San Francisco who 
spread the tidings in the eastern states. The Ha- 
waiian Islands, Oregon, and Vancouver were first 
affected. From there the excitement spread in 
ever-widening circles. The news of the discovery 
was first published in a prominent eastern news- 
paper in the autumn of 1848. The report at first 
met with incredulity which daily confirmation 
quickly overcame. Personal letters, Governor 
Mason's official report, and finally shipments of 
the precious " dust " dispelled all doubt. 

California became the center of the world's at- 
tention which soon turned to " gold fever," and 
the whole world was affected. From every quarter 
of the globe came men seeking the precious metal. 
On a smaller scale in proportion to the population, 
but on a far grander scale as regards numbers, 
the scenes which were enacted in California in 
1848 were reenacted all over the United States 
and all over the world in 1849. January 1 of 
that year the population of California was 26,000, 

3l§ 



Forty-Nine 217 

of which one-half were Californians and the re- 
mainder Americans and foreigners. During the 
year over one hundred thousand people came into 
the state. Four-fifths of these newcomers were 
Americans. The remainder were from all parts 
of the world. 

There were three routes by which the gold- 
seekers reached California. Those from the At- 
lantic seaboard and Europe came for the most 
part in vessels around Cape Horn. Emigrants 
from the southern states took ship to the Isthmus 
of Panama and, after making their way across the 
continent at that point, again took ship up the 
coast. The great number of those who came from 
the middle states took the overland route by ox- 
train and " prairie-schooner." 

About 140 ships left the Atlantic Coast for Cal- 
ifornia in the month of February, 1849. Those 
who went by way of Cape Horn met with fewer 
hardships than any of the others in reaching Cali- 
fornia. Those who took the Isthmus route re- 
ceived from the agents of Atlantic ships ample 
assurance of connections on the Pacific side. But 
this assurance was without foundation and thou- 
sands had to remain on the Isthmus for weeks and 
months. Hundreds succumbed to diseases caused 
by the climate. Baggage was abandoned in the 
frantic efforts of these unfortunates to get aboard 
vessels, and fabulous prices were paid for any 
sort of transportation to California. As much as 



218 The Story of California 

$1,000 was paid for the privilege of sleeping on 
a coil of rope. This unfortunate condition was 
due partly to the enormous crowds seeking trans- 
portation and partly to the irregular service. 
There was little chance to remedy the latter evil, 
however, for the moment a vessel arrived in San 
Francisco she was immediately deserted by her 
crew. 

The two favorite rendezvous for the overland 
journey were St. Joseph and Independence, Mis- 
souri. From these points the caravans followed 
the route of what is now the Union Pacific Rail- 
road, or the Old Santa Fe Trail. Wagons of all 
kinds, from ponderous prairie-schooners to light 
carts, were in use. They formed a long line dur- 
ing the day and at night were drawn up in a circle 
to form a defense from an enemy and a corral 
for the animals. The Indians did not give much 
trouble at first as they did not know what to make 
of the situation but with the later caravans they 
got in their deadly work. Many of the emigrants 
who took this route stopped at Salt Lake greatly 
to the advantage of the Mormons, and some 
turned back from the Sierra Nevada even after 
having crossed the backbone of the continent. 

The men who went overland were as a rule bet- 
ter fitted for pioneers than those who went by 
sea, but the greater difficulties and hardships of- 
ten led to disagreements among the members of 
a party and not infrequently these were so sharp 




Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society 

MAP OF 1849, SHOWING ROUTES TO CAI 

The starting-point rendezvous for which 
cross the almost terra incognita of the far Wes 
north-bound caravan trains made their way t 
southern, route led to Bent's Fort, and then 1 
the old Santa Fe Trail continuing on to Kea 
ways beyond Salt Lake. As a rule, the furtr 
details of the journey and the dangers besetti 
prime objective, and once there the successfu 
Western Guide Book and Emigrant's Director 
provided only the most meagre and general c 



107 Cm-HH'trh 10 'J 



( (mmit mm) > 



CAVA FORNIAVORE GOX 



/>//f . ofMall&Mpo net) Rut Yh£& 

h 




ORNIA, OREGON, AND THE GOLD REGION 



irly all the goldseekers and others, planning to 
timed was Independence. Leaving that city, the 
'ort Laramie and then to South Pass. Another, 
led north toward Salt Lake. Still another, was 
's route to San Diego. There was a choice of 
the immigrants went the less they knew of the 
and disasters were many. Sutter's Fort was a 
oneers found easy way to the gold-fields. The 
of 1849, from which the above map was taken, 
ctions. 



Forty-Nine 219 

as to make a division necessary. Of the men who 
came by sea many were mere adventurers with 
none of the true qualities of pioneers. It was 
this class of men who did much after they had 
arrived in California to spread vice among the 
real workers, and to profit by their downfall. 

For the overland pioneer and goldseeker, con- 
ditions of travel had not improved in any particu- 
lar since the days of the Bidwell and Donner ex- 
peditions. The men and women of '49 had to 
face the same hardships and dangers of the wilder- 
ness that had brought death to so many of the 
pioneers of 1841. This very fact served first to 
weed out the weaker spirits and then to train the 
muscles, brains, and nerves of those who did win 
their way through, so that they were enabled to 
meet and overcome almost any difficulty that was 
within the range of human possibility. The jour- 
ney of the Manly party has become famous in 
the annals of California and serves well to illus- 
trate the mettle of these men of '49, and what 
they would suffer for gold. 

William Lewis Manly was born near St. Al- 
bans, Vermont, in 1820, starting life when but 
a boy with a capital of $7. He went west and 
served his apprenticeship as a pioneer in Ohio, 
Michigan, and Wisconsin. When the news of 
the great gold discovery came in 1849, ne deter- 
mined to go to California and try his fortune. 
He started early in the year with Charles Dallas. 



220 The Story of California 

When they came to the Green River, Manly and 
six others decided to try to make their way to the 
Pacific by boat. But their experiences in the rocky 
gorges of that stream soon convinced them that 
the attempt must be abandoned and they returned 
to Salt Lake. Here they joined the party of 
Asabel Bennett. In the possession of a member 
of this party was a map showing an imaginary 
short route to Los Angeles. This they attempted 
to follow and before many days found themselves 
in the now far- and ill-famed Death Valley, so 
named from the hundreds of emigrants who after- 
ward left their bones there to be stripped by the 
coyotes and bleached by the burning sun. 

This valley lies along the eastern border of 
California in the latitude of Monterey and is 
worthy of its appellation. Its width is about 
thirty miles; its length, one hundred, and it is 
nearly fifty miles from its entrance to the first pool 
of brackish water. In its lowest point it is 160 
feet below the level of the sea. Its barren sides 
are absolutely devoid of vegetation, and rainfall 
within its precincts is almost unknown. All day 
long during both summer and winter the sun's 
rays beat down with terrific heat into this fatal 
hollow, making it a veritable furnace, in which 
human life is shrivelled and burned until endur- 
ance is exhausted and the sufferer welcomes death 
as a relief from his tortures. 

It was into this hell on earth that Manly and 



Forty-Nine 221 

his ill-fated party found their way and before they 
knew it were in its evil toils. The children cried 
for water but there was none for them. The 
oxen lowed in their agony and their cry added to 
the terror. Progress became slower and slower. 
The provisions were exhausted and one by one 
oxen were sacrificed to the call of hunger. Meat, 
blood, and hide were used to sustain life. 

It soon became apparent that even these ex- 
treme measures would not avail unless outside help 
was procured. Manly and John Rogers, a Ten- 
nesseean, started on ahead to secure aid. They 
left behind them sixteen suffering beings to await 
their return to the desert. The horrors of the tor- 
turing dryness of the desert to these men traveling 
without water are indescribable but they pushed 
on. Weak, exhausted, sleepless, almost dying of 
thirst the thought of the helpless women and chil- 
dren back there in the desert spurred them on. 

At last they arrived utterly exhausted at the 
ranch of Mr. French. Staying here only a day 
or two to recover their strength, they started back 
with two horses and a mule loaded with provi- 
sions. They had not gone far on the return jour- 
ney before it became apparent that the horses 
would not be able to make the trip. With many 
misgivings they were abandoned to their fate and 
the two men pressed on with the mule. The dif- 
ficulties which they had to overcome in getting 
even this one animal through some of the moun- 



222 The Story of California 

tain passes are almost unbelievable. Many times 
the undertaking seemed impossible but their loy- 
alty forbade their giving up, and they kept on 
with their weary toil. 

Finally, after an absence of twenty-six days, 
they sighted the camp. No one was in sight, but 
a shout brought a figure staggering from one of 
the tents. They were in time and the travelers 
were saved. The rejoicing was unbounded, prep- 
arations were immediately made for the depart- 
ure, and on February i, 1850, the party left Death 
Valley with the mule and the few remaining oxen. 
But their trials were not yet ended. They had 
a long toilsome journey on foot ahead of them. 
On this journey their provisions again gave out 
and they had to kill the oxen. For six weeks they 
toiled along and about the middle of March 
reached San Fernando Mission. They had been 
a year on the way and for four months had been 
lost in the wilderness. Even now there remained 
600 miles to be covered before the gold fields 
could be reached. 

By whatever route the adventurers arrived in 
California, once there the cry was " On to the 
diggings ! " The minor stopped only long enough 
in San Francisco to procure his outfit. This con- 
sisted of a pick, pan, shovel, rocker, dipper, 
wooden basket, blankets, and a few simple cook- 
ing and eating utensils. Thus furnished, he 



Forty-Nine 223 

hurried on to join the throng of eager prospectors 
all pressing forward to satisfy the master passion 
for gold. With frantic oaths teamsters lashed 
their struggling mules, raising thick clouds of 
dust. Horsemen with heavy packs on their sad- 
dles passed them. Tented ox-carts were a com- 
mon sight. And sprinkled through this toiling 
mass, almost lost in the dust and the crowd, were 
many footsore bearers of their own burdens of 
tools, arms, and supplies. 

Sutter's Fort was the goal of these endless cara- 
vans. Here was assembled a throng of traders 
and miners, rough, sunburned, unkempt men in red 
or blue woolen shirts, deerskin suits, or oilskins, 
with now and then a Mexican with his picturesque 
short-jacketed suit, spurs and sombrero. This 
crowd was constantly changing as from day to 
day there came in new arrivals on one side and 
on the other there were new departures for the 
gold fields. 

But even when the gold fields themselves were 
finally reached it was not the end of the journey. 
Overcrowded camps, rumors of great finds else- 
where, and most of all the cravings of a fevered 
imagination, led the seeker after yellow wealth 
on and on and on. Sometimes he was led to for- 
tune, sometimes to utter wreck, often to both. 

The conditions had a strange effect upon the 
country. Often several thousand people would 
congregate in one place in a few weeks after a 



224 The Story of California 

rich find had been made. Tents gave place to 
houses of wood and brick. Newspapers, sewers, 
even gas works sprang into existence seemingly 
out of nothing. A city charter was obtained and 
a municipal administration organized and then 
— a new find farther on and the new city's popu- 
lation vanished in a day, leaving silence and deso- 
lation over the erstwhile aspiring metropolis. 

But this was not the only peculiar condition in 
the social status in California in 1849 and the 
following years which go to make up the period 
widely known as the " Days of '49." The popu- 
lation of the state was a motley aggregation in 
every respect. There were collected in a com- 
paratively small section people from every part 
of the world and representing every known sys- 
tem of law, manners and morals. Less than eight 
per cent of the total population of the state were 
women, and in the mining districts this proportion 
was in many instances as low as two per cent. 
And the men were all young men; there were no 
gray heads among them. 

This great, unruly, and unruled mob was one 
seething mass of excitement in the wild chase for 
gold. And of this excitement San Francisco was 
the center. Here were brought together the newly 
arrived Argonaut, the newly rich miner, and the 
scores of human leeches that preyed upon both. 
The number of men in the city who were not 
striving for sudden riches was negligible. The 



Forty-Nine 225 

Argonaut was pressing on to the gold fields; the 
returned miner spent his time and his pile of 
gold-dust at the gaming table in an effort to make 
more without even going to the trouble of picking 
it off the ground; and the leeches were watching 
every chance to rob and cheat both of these classes 
of all that could be taken from them. 

The man who had sold his all in the East to 
go to California found that he must waste no 
time in San Francisco, or his little capital would 
quickly vanish. The rapid production of gold, 
and the prevalent use of the dust as money, de- 
preciated its value at one time as low as $4 an 
ounce. Prices were fabulous. Picks and shovels 
sold for from $5 to $15 each; a tin pan or a 
wooden bowl for $5; a butcher knife for $30; 
beef with one potato, for $1.25; baked beans 
"greased" for $1; hash, low-grade, 75c; hash, 
" 18 carats,'* $1; roast grizzly bear for $1; 
11 square meal " for $3; wine and spirits for $10 
to $40 a quart bottle; washing was done for $15 
a dozen pieces. The smallest coin tendered for 
any service was a fifty cent piece. The quarter 
was seldom used even in the purchase of the 
smallest articles. Everything, even boot-blacking, 
was done on a grand scale. Wages for ordinary 
laborers were at the rate of $1 an hour. Terms 
at "Delmonico's Hotel" were $50 a week for 
" plenty to eat, if one was not too fastidious, and 
a good bunk to sleep in." The bar made things 



226 The Story of California 

a little noisy and an occasional free fight furnished 
excitement. Such were the conditions which the 
goldseekers had to face in San Francisco. Few 
remained more than one day. 

The work at the mines was extremely hard. 
As one of the early preachers in San Francisco, 
Reverend William Taylor says, " there was more 
hard work than has ever been done in any coun- 
try by the same number of men in the same length 
of time, since the world was made." The hard- 
ships were real as well as imaginary. The work 
had to be carried on under the blazing rays of 
the summer sun and at the same time in the ice- 
cold waters from the snow-covered Sierras. The 
strain of these conditions was hard on the strong- 
est. This and the steady working in the wet 
drifts and tunnels was necessarily injurious to 
health. The food too was poor. Salt meat and 
no vegetables for long periods of time caused 
many to contract scurvy. The illness brought on 
by these conditions laid the foundation for crime 
by depriving many of the means of earning a live- 
lihood. In October of 1850 an epidemic of 
cholera took off about a tenth of the population. 

It is probable that the same amount of work 
as was performed by these miners in California, 
if it had been done in their own homes in their 
old employments, would have brought as large 
returns, but of course without the incentive 
of possible big strikes. Many averaged $100 




w 

z 
w 
u 

CO 



z 
z 






•«*. 

&H 



Forty-Nine 227 

a day; some as high as $500 and $700. 
This bred a strong hope in those who were not 
so fortunate, and each man worked to his utmost 
capacity with the thought in his mind that it would 
be his turn next, and another day would see him 
a wealthy man. 

At first operations were confined to surface 
picking and shallow digging along streams and 
ravines. These sources of supply failing, the 
streams were turned aside and their beds worked 
for the precious metal. This was supplemented 
by " dry-washing," a process of sifting out the 
gold. The surface gold was soon exhausted and 
more elaborate methods were introduced. These 
necessitated the use of machinery of a simple kind. 
Almost all of the eastern-made contrivances for 
mining were utterly useless, but one of them, the 
" cradle," came into very common use. It con- 
sisted of a long box which was constantly rocked 
while " pay-dirt " was flushed through with water. 
The gold sank to the bottom and the dirt was 
washed out. 

In its result mining was much like gambling, 
and in the eager pursuit for gold was born the 
miners' passion for speculation which lost for 
many of them in the gambling halls of San Fran- 
cisco all they had earned in the gold fields. The 
miner became restless and even when in posses- 
sion of a good claim would drop it and hasten on 
at the rumor of a better find. The whole life was 



228 The Story of California 

a lottery. Land adjoining extremely rich claims 
was often worthless. And the wild rough uncer- 
tain character of the life itself made patient in- 
dustry distasteful and even contemptible. A 
Mexican dug the gold-dust from his claim with a 
horn spoon from nine o'clock in the morning until 
four o'clock in the afternoon. In that short space 
of time he had taken out thousands of dollars. 
With his newly acquired wealth he set up a monte 
bank and bought a bottle of whiskey. By ten 
o'clock that night he was penniless and drunk. 

The novelty and irresponsibility of the life led 
to much disorder and some crime, but the typical 
miner was a fair, square, sensible man. Most of 
the miners were influenced to some extent by their 
environment, but with few exceptions retained 
their manliness. In the early part of the rush to 
the mines gold-dust was often left in the tents 
unguarded with no thought of the possibility of 
theft. This sense of security was due to the de- 
termined attitude of the miners toward thieves. 
Quarreling was of course frequent but it was sel- 
dom attended with serious results. Every man 
knew his opponent was armed and drawing a gun 
usually meant death to one or the other, and often 
to both. Under these circumstances men hesi- 
tated to draw their weapons and most small mat- 
ters were settled with fists. 

Most of the mining was done in the summer 
months. With the October rains the cold became 



Forty-Nine 229 

too severe for work in the gold fields, and a rush 
for San Francisco and the other towns set in with 
such strength as to rival the rush for the mines. 
Some, content with their gains, returned home. 
But a far larger number, after a winter of riot in 
San Francisco, set out for the mines again in the 
spring as poor as they were a year before. 

On his way to the gold fields the Argonaut had 
felt an earnest desire to get away with all possible 
speed from San Francisco and its exorbitant prices 
and vicious temptations. On his return from the 
gold fields, however, things assumed a different 
aspect. He was now in most cases possessed of 
riches beyond his fondest dreams, and with the 
means at hand he was convinced that his hard 
work had earned him a glorious time. Drink- 
ing and gambling were the natural outcome of 
sudden riches where there were no more worthy 
objects for their expenditure. Gambling saloons 
with their music and myriad lights were every- 
where. Many of the most influential men of the 
place followed gambling as a business, even as a 
profession. 

Few indeed were the men who were not to a 
greater or less extent the prey of these profession- 
als. Everybody in the town joined in the game. 
Easy gain made losses easier to bear. Faro, 
monte, and roulette were among the favorite 
games. The stakes were usually from fifty cents 
to five dollars, but frequently they ran as high as 



230 The Story of California 

$500 or $1,000, and in at least one recorded case 
$45,000 was bet. Other pastimes were bullfights, 
bull and bear fights, prize fights and horse races. 
By the end of 1850 the town boasted two theaters, 
the Olympic Circus and the Jenny Lind Theater. 
The drama was of the blood-and-thunder type and 
the mere appearance of a woman was sufficient to 
insure success. In spite of the low character of 
the productions, the influence of the theater was 
probably for good as it served as a diversion from 
gambling and drinking. 

In the early days of San Francisco there were 
very few women and most of these were not of 
the home-making type. The few good women 
were angels to their neighborhoods. The social 
unit was the " partnership " rather than the fam- 
ily. Strange were the pairs yoked in this queer 
bond, but its ties were sacred and a man could 
always depend upon his " pard." Families gradu- 
ally became more numerous, and before the home 
influence vice and sin slowly retreated. But house- 
keeping was attended with many difficulties. There 
were no female servants. Fleas, rats, and other 
vermin abounded. Laundry expenses were often 
higher than new underwear. Water was very 
scarce and the dwellings themselves most defi- 
cient. These conditions tended to retard the 
progress of family life, and to make more tempt- 
ing the attractions of the vice-breeding resorts. 

In the war of the home upon vice a few Chris- 



Forty-Nitie 231 

tian missionaries lent their vigorous aid. Min- 
isters like " Father " Taylor, Willey, and Hunt 
dared to raise their voices in the stronghold of 
sin and evil in a plea for righteousness and godli- 
ness. Many brave deeds are recorded of the days 
of '49, but a perusal of the experiences of these 
men compels recognition of their acts as among 
the bravest of them all. 

It was not that the people of San Francisco 
and the other towns, where conditions were very 
much the same but on a smaller scale, were all 
evil. To reach California was in itself a task 
which implied energy and self-reliance; but mod- 
eration was not a virtue consonant with the Cali- 
fornia environment. Ancient traditions were 
forgotten and the newcomer plunged at once 
into the swirl of innovation and speculation. But 
not all his good qualities left him. Goodfellow- 
ship, hospitality and generosity reigned supreme. 
Pedigree was forgotten and the great principle of 
the West, " a man for what he can do," was 
firmly established. Among the miners there were 
many toughs, loafers and drunkards, but most 
of them were sound and honest beneath a rough 
exterior, and their strongest characteristic was a 
readiness to lend a helping hand to a fellow miner. 
It was this spirit that brought California through 
the trying days which were upon her, and enabled 
her to take a proud position among the common- 
wealths of the United States. 



A 



CHAPTER XX 

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A GOVERNMENT 

T the time of the gold discovery there were 
about ten thousand people in California, of 
whom two thousand were Americans. A year and 
a half later the population of the territory had in- 
creased to 80,000. During all of this time, and 
with this tremendous influx of population Cali- 
fornia had been practically without a government. 
Commodore Stockton had ordered at the time of 
the conquest that the old laws and usages of the 
department should be continued in force. But 
from being the quietest corner of the world Cali- 
fornia had suddenly become the busiest, and with 
the arrival of thousands of newcomers the older 
inhabitants became lost in the crowd, and it was 
impossible to discover in many cases what these 
old laws and usages were. 

California was tried as no other American 
community had ever been tried. She had to solve 
problems in law and government such as no other 
community anywhere was ever called upon to 
solve. The trial showed both the nobility and 
the weakness of the American character. Brutal 
passions had full sway and had to be conquered by 
all the powers that could be summoned against 

232 



Establishment of a Government 233 

them. The problems to be solved were American 
and not Spanish, and they had to be settled in an 
American way. The American system of law was 
that of most of the newcomers, and it was evident 
that this must soon supersede the antiquated Mex- 
ican system. 

The news of peace with Mexico was received 
August 6, 1848, and every one in the territory 
thought that the first action of Congress would 
be the establishment of a government for Cali- 
fornia. But Congress, for reasons we have al- 
ready learned, did not take action. It adjourned 
and left the problem untouched. The avowed 
object of the Mexican war was the acquisition 
of territory. As it was generally thought that this 
territory would be in the South, the southerners 
expected it would naturally become a slave terri- 
tory. But the question of slavery never became 
vital as a local question in California. It settled 
itself there for neither soil nor climate were 
adapted to it, and sentiment was against it. And 
so when California applied for admission to the 
Union it was as a free state. This unexpected 
turn of affairs wholly upset the plans of the south- 
erners and aroused violent and bitter opposition on 
their part to the admission of the new state. 

While Congress was struggling over the matter 
and doing nothing the settlers themselves took 
steps to remedy the evil conditions. California 
was full of strong men. They had been picked in 



234 The Story of California 

the East and the journey over the plains had 
strengthened them. It had made them serious. 
The struggles with the dangers of the great moun- 
tain ranges and their final conquest had added 
much to their power. From the two they had 
acquired a sturdy self-reliance which led them to 
face this new difficulty courageously. 

As early as February of 1847 the California 
Star had urged a convention to form a constitu- 
tion because of the utter inadequacy of the existing 
order of things. But it was not until December 
11, 1848, that anything like a real meeting on 
the subject was held. This was at San Jose and 
a general convention to form a government was 
recommended. Another meeting was held in San 
Francisco shortly after and this was followed by 
others throughout the state. The people of San 
Francisco actually started a temporary govern- 
ment for themselves with fifteen members in its 
legislative assembly. The other officers consisted 
of three magistrates, a treasurer and a sheriff. 

The sentiment everywhere was in favor of a 
convention to form a constitution, but nobody 
seemed to know just whose duty it was to call it. 
Governor Mason's position was extremely diffi- 
cult. He was chief of a country where the forts 
were without soldiers, the towns without men; a 
territory without legislators or laws, and communi- 
cation with his home government slow and infre- 
quent. Neither he nor the President had any 



Establishment of a Government 235 

power to establish a government until Congress 
should act. So everything in California, includ- 
ing the government, had to be improvised, for the 
territory had no legal status after the treaty of 
peace. There was no provision in the United 
States Constitution for such a situation. An at- 
tempt to legalize the status of the country was 
made by the officials of the United States who 
claimed that the continuance of the military gov- 
ernment rested upon the consent of the governed. 
This consent was presumed from the fact that 
their only alternative was anarchy, and that no 
people would choose that where any other gov- 
ernment at all was available. 

When General Bennett Riley succeeded Mason 
as governor, he took matters into his own hands 
and called a constitutional convention to meet at 
Monterey, September i, 1849. This assembly 
was empowered by the proclamation which 
brought it into being, to make such laws " as did 
not conflict with the Constitution of the United 
States, nor the common law thereof." As it was an 
entirely extra-constitutional body and there is no 
common law of the United States, its position 
was somewhat indefinite. 

Not on this point but on another many of the 
settlers dissented from this proclamation. They 
thought that Riley, being a military officer, had 
no authority to call a constitutional convention to 
establish a civil government. But largely through 



236 The Story of California 

the efforts of Peter H. Burnett, who afterwards 
became the first governor of the state, this opposi- 
tion was overcome. He arranged for a citizens 
committee to call a convention at the same time 
and place as Riley's and give it the same powers. 
Thus the convention, when it did meet had a dou- 
ble sanction, though the authority of either source 
was very questionable. However, no one ques- 
tioned its acts. The feeling was universal that it 
was better to have a government than to squabble 
over the means of getting it. 

General Riley, General Persifor Smith, and 
Thomas Butler King traveled about the country 
arousing interest in the convention and emphasiz- 
ing the importance of it to every citizen of Cali- 
fornia. They succeeded in persuading the people 
to stop in their mad pursuit of wealth to elect 
suitable delegates. This election took place Au- 
gust i, 1849, an d was marked by no disturbance 
of any kind. Most of the delegates, after their 
election set out for Monterey, going part or all 
of the way by ship. One of the boats which car- 
ried many of the delegates from the southern part 
of the territory, the United States Steamship 
Edith, was wrecked on the way up the coast. 

The convention was called to order in Colton 
Hall at Monterey, September 1, 1849, in accord- 
ance with the two proclamations. Dr. Robert 
Semple, a veteran California editor, presided. He 
stood before the meeting, a giant in stature, and a 



Establishment of a Government 237 

splendid example of the plain, right-thinking man 
who was the type of the best California citizen- 
ship of the time. William G. Marcy was elected 
secretary of the convention. 

Forty-eight delegates answered the roll call. 
The nationality, age, and business of these del- 
egates is of great interest. Seven were Hispano- 
Californians; Ireland, Scotland, Spain, France, 
and Switzerland were represented by one each; 
the remainder were Americans. Of the whole 
number twenty-two had been in California three 
years or more. By occupation, fourteen were 
lawyers, twelve farmers, seven merchants, and the 
remainder were engineers, bankers, physicians, 
and printers. The average age of the delegates 
was thirty-six years. Prominent among them were 
such men as Sutter, Larkin, Gilbert, Vallejo, Pico 
and Carillo. The make-up of the convention re- 
futes the statement which has frequently been 
made that California's first constitution was 
framed by ignorant gold hunters. 

The delegates realized the importance of their 
task and to a great extent its difficulty. They did 
not pretend to originate a constitution but care- 
fully compared those of other states, and selecting 
what they thought were the best features of each, 
succeeded in framing a very acceptable instrument. 

The first question to be decided was whether to 
form a territorial or a state government. This 
was decided in favor of the latter. Then came the 



238 The Story of California 

slavery question. The master of the convention 
was William Gwin, a southerner. He had come to 
California especially for the purpose of furnishing 
that future state with at least one piece of timber 
out of which she could fashion an honored public 
servant. He was the leader of the so-called 
southern element which was supposed to be in 
control of the convention. Of the delegates, 
twenty-two were from northern states, fifteen from 
slave states, with seven native Californians and 
four foreign born. Gwin felt that to try to in- 
sert a clause permitting slavery in the constitution 
under such circumstances was to invite almost cer- 
tain defeat. The resolution against this institu- 
tion therefore passed by a unanimous vote. 

But this was not the end of the slavery question. 
Gwin was a southerner of the southerners, and 
the clause prohibiting slavery did not destroy his 
hope of winning something for the cause. In due 
time the question of the boundary of the new 
state came up for discussion. The territory ceded 
by Mexico included the present states of Cali- 
fornia, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of 
Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. Here 
Gwin saw an opportunity and he led his followers 
in an earnest attempt to include all of this territory 
within the borders of the new state. It was the 
scheme of the southerners to bring California into 
the Union with this enormous territory, and later 
to divide it along an east and west line, making 



Establishment of a Government 239 

of the southern portion one or more slave states. 
The struggle was sharp and the result was for a 
time in doubt. But Gwin had an ambition to be 
one of the first senators from the new state and 
he could not afford to antagonize the anti-slavery 
sentiment. He withdrew his opposition and the 
boundary was fixed as it is today. 

The question of taxation also aroused some 
feeling, and this time the whole delegation from 
the southern portion of the territory stood to- 
gether. It became apparent at once that under 
the system of taxation in common use, the holders 
of the enormous Spanish and Mexican land grants 
in the south would pay almost the whole cost of 
the government of which all would receive the 
benefit. This difficulty was overcome by the estab- 
lishment of a system of locally chosen appraisers. 

The labors of the convention were ended and 
the constitution signed October 13, 1849. The 
news that the great work was finished was re- 
ceived with prolonged cheers, salutes of cannon 
and the unfurling of flags. Thousands of copies 
of the new constitution were immediately spread 
broadcast over the country. Every remote ranch 
and mining camp all over the state was busy study- 
ing its provisions. One month after its completion 
the new constitution was ratified by a fifteen to 
one vote. Only one-sixth of the Americans in the 
territory voted. 

Governor Riley proclaimed the new constitution 



240 The Story of California 

to be duly " ordained and established," and quietly 
surrendered the government of the state to the 
newly-elected governor, Peter H. Burnett. In the 
election Burnett had defeated three other candi- 
dates, including John A. Sutter who received the 
third largest vote. 

Governor Burnett called the new legislature 
together December 15. No capital had been 
fixed by the constitutional convention but the legis- 
lature was required to meet at San Jose until it 
was removed by law. The building in which the 
sessions were held was provided by the people of 
the city. It was an unfurnished box sixty feet long 
by forty feet wide. The assembly hall occupied 
all of the second floor while the senate chamber 
and offices were located below. 

The first business to be transacted was the elec- 
tion of United States senators. California had 
not been admitted as a state as yet, but everybody 
felt so sure it would be without delay that the 
election of senators was considered of primary 
importance. John Charles Fremont was chosen 
on the first ballot and William Gwin on the third. 
The next act was to begin borrowing money to pay 
expenses. This was done with alacrity. These 
two important matters disposed of, the legisla- 
ture proceeded to the enactment of laws for the 
government of the new state. A code was adopted 
which, like the constitution, was for the most part 



Establishment of a Government 241 

copied from the statute law of other states and 
which was, on the whole, very acceptable. 

The matter of the location of the state capital 
was one which continually recurred during the 
early years of the commonwealth. The constitu- 
tion had failed to fix the seat of government, and 
the consequence was that it was peddled about the 
state for years, before it found its final resting 
place. San Jose, Sacramento, Vallejo, and Beni- 
cia were at various times contestants for the 
honor, and each of these cities was the home at 
one time or another of one legislature or a part 
of one, for on two occasions it was moved in the 
middle of a session. The supreme court of the 
state became involved in the discussion at one 
time and for some months was at variance with 
the legislature on the subject. Sacramento was 
finally chosen and became the permanent seat of 
government in 1854. 

California, in so far as she herself could ac- 
complish it, had made herself a member of the 
Union. But the Union had so far failed to per- 
form her part of the ceremony. The question of 
the admission of California had become the focus- 
ing point for all the forces which raged about the 
question of slavery. The southerners realized 
that if California came in as a free state their 
power was gone forever. The northerners real- 
ized equally well that the end of the Union was 
near if the southerners in their present temper 



242 The Story of California 

ever secured the control of affairs. Both sides 
were determined, and the struggle was a bitter 
one. 

At last the northern sentiment triumphed, and 
President Fillmore signed the bill admitting Cali- 
fornia September 9, 1850. The long wished for 
tidings did not reach San Francisco until October 
18. The excitement which* followed its coming 
was intense. Business was suspended. Courts 
adjourned. The whole population congregated 
in Portsmouth Square to congratulate each other 
and to give vent to their delight in shouts and 
other demonstrations appropriate to such an occa- 
sion. Newspapers containing the news sold for 
$5 a copy. 

California was at last a member of the Union 
and her seal, on which appeared the goddess 
Minerva, a grizzly bear, a miner washing gold, 
shipping on the Sacramento River, with the Sier- 
ras in the background, and the whole surrounded 
by a galaxy of thirty-one stars (the number of 
states after California's admission), with the 
word " Eureka " at the top, took its place among 
those of the other American commonwealths. 




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CHAPTER XXI 

THE STRUGGLE FOR ORDER * 

HPHE miners before the establishment of the 
* state government had found the old Mexican 
system entirely inadequate to meet the needs of 
the situation, and they had been forced to take the 
administration of the law into their own hands. 
Their trials were rather informal, but they were 
conducted without delay, and punishment was im- 
mediate. There were no technicalities and no 
legal quibbles. The cases were all simple crim- 
inal matters and needed no complicated legal sys- 
tem to handle them. Instances of the infliction 
of the death penalty were extremely few. From 
such facts as are available, it seems that substan- 
tial justice was done in the great majority of the 
cases. 

It had been hoped that the new government 
would do away with the necessity of these popular 
tribunals and would substitute for them a reg- 
ular and orderly system of judicial procedure. 
In form it did so, but it gradually became known 
that the weakness of the new government was its 
inability to punish crime. This of course greatly 

*The title of this chapter is taken from Josiah Royce's 
" California," as most accurately describing the subject. 

243 



244 The Story of California 

emboldened the criminal element. So lax was the 
administration of the law that there were few 
crimes for which immunity could not be bought. 
A desperate character would kill a fellow-citizen 
to rob him of $2,000, one-half of which went to 
purchase his complete freedom from prosecution. 

The effect of this laxity in the judicial system 
in the society then in California can be readily 
imagined. The profligate and vicious preyed 
upon the honest and industrious, and the latter 
were in constant jeopardy of being murdered for 
their money. The extension of the stage lines gave 
birth to a new industry, that of holding up and 
robbing the coaches. The express companies 
were the heaviest losers by this traffic and they 
were the most effective factor in eventually exter- 
minating ito The whole situation was such as to 
drive the better people of the state to take the 
law into their own hands. 

California had developed a mining law of her 
own. This was at first made by general agree- 
ment in each of the various camps. With the con- 
stant shifting of men from one camp to another 
there was a gradual approach to uniformity. Re- 
corders were chosen in the larger camps to keep a 
systematic record of all transfers, and all dis- 
putes were settled by a public meeting. Thus 
each mining camp became a little republic. It 
kept order for itself and was even inclined to re- 
sent any interference from the outside. At first 



The Struggle for Order 245 

a general camaraderie prevailed and theft was 
almost unknown, though the precious gold-dust 
was left in the miner's hut or tent in full view. 

But with increasing numbers this happy condi- 
tion was changed. Every town had its bully and 
its sharpers. Vice and its numerous agents in-, 
creased with great rapidity. Robbers began to 
ply their trade. Bands of ruffians made system- 
atic raids on convoys from the mines. These 
conditions made human life cheap. Theft began 
to be considered a greater crime than murder. 
While this was the true condition in California in 
the early days, it must be remembered that the 
picturesque descriptions of the camps, which are 
so frequently met with in " western " literature, 
are very highly colored. Violence leaves a deeper 
impression than peace, with the result that in this 
instance the world has been given a very exag- 
gerated picture of the evils of the mining camps. 

The punishments of the miners' tribunals were 
always swift and severe and at times cruel. Ban- 
ishment was common in spite of the inherent evil 
in driving the guilty man to infest another camp 
or to make his living as an outlaw or a road- 
agent. But miners' law with its deliberate and 
orderly procedure and its careful safeguarding of 
the rights of the accused must be carefully dis- 
tinguished from " lynch law," which is the expres- 
sion of an unreasoning popular passion. There 
were no jails in California in those days, and the 



246 The Story of California 

only alternative was a summary punishment. The 
various communities are open to censure for this 
failure to provide proper jails. The men who 
made up their population were largely selfishly 
seeking to enrich themselves and then leave, in- 
stead of spending some portion of the all-prev- 
alent wealth in the preserving and up-building of 
the social order. 

The greatest evil in the whole system, how- 
ever, was the injustice shown by miners' juries to 
foreigners and especially " greasers," as the min- 
ers had christened the Mexicans. There were 
many instances of Americans ejecting Mexicans 
and Spaniards from their claims and calmly appro- 
priating them. The feeling prevailed that " for- 
eigners " should not be allowed to participate in 
the newly discovered wealth. 

The inexcusable incidents of this lawless 
method of enforcing law inevitably engendered 
a strong reaction. The growth of the country in 
numbers and of its citizens in moral strength 
brought about the improvement of the judicial 
system and the relinquishment to it of the duty of 
preserving order. This change took place slowly, 
however. The original establishment of the state 
government brought the semblance but not the 
substance of law, and the outlying communities 
were not only slow to turn over to its officials the 
preservation of order, but were quick to take it 
back into their own hands at the slightest failure 



The Struggle for Order 247 

on the part of the duly constituted authorities. 
So the formation of the government was only the 
beginning of the struggle for order, and the real 
government was not firmly established until many 
years after. 

The struggle was going on in all parts of the 
state, but its storm center was San Francisco. Here 
every element in the life of the California of 
those days was to be seen in its most intense form. 
But before describing the phases of the struggle 
in that city, it is necessary to recall the fact that 
the striking and unusual events in the history of 
any community, while they fill the greatest space 
in the narrative, do not always constitute the real 
daily life of the community. 

All the better citizenship of San Francisco was 
absorbed in one idea — the making of money. Lit- 
tle if any attention was paid to the affairs of gov- 
ernment, and no more than a passing remark was 
bestowed by the great majority of the citizens 
on the matter of the preservation of order. The 
conditions were ideal for the spread of crime. 
About the middle of 1849 a band of desperadoes 
organized under the name of " Regulators " for 
the purpose of more easily carrying out their 
criminal plans. They were called " Hounds " by 
the citizens upon whom they committed continual 
depredations under the flimsy pretext of being op- 
posed to foreigners. But even these actions 
aroused no effectual opposition until their excesses 



248 The Story of California 

became such that there was no safety for any- 
one. Then widespread terror gave birth to the 
determination to exterminate its cause. 

On Sunday, July 15, 1850, a cowardly attack 
by the Regulators on the Chileans aroused the bet- 
ter citizenship to action. They organized under 
the leadership of Sam Brannan. Their first act 
was to arrest twenty of the ringleaders of the 
rioters and try them. The principal one of these, 
Sam Roberts, was found guilty and imprisoned. 
This was the end of the Hounds for the action of 
the citizens had demonstrated that a determined 
effort could put down a disorderly gang of ruf- 
fians. 

But the lesson was soon forgotten amidst the 
great excitement over new gold discoveries, and 
the universal absorption in the pursuit of the glit- 
tering dust. The great hordes of criminals who 
made their way in with the gold-seekers began 
again to reap a rich harvest. Even the courts of 
justice were apparently instruments in their hands. 
For all the murders committed at this time, not 
a man was hanged. The number is appalling. 
From 1849 t0 J ^54 inclusive over 4,000 murders 
were committed in the state, 1,200 of which were 
in San Francisco. During this time there was but 
one legal conviction. 

The robbery February 19, 185 1, of a man 
named Jansen by two men who entered his store as 
customers again aroused the indignation of the 



The Struggle for Order 249 

citizens to activity. The men supposed to be guilty 
were caught. For a few hours the mob spirit pre- 
vailed and an attempt at lynching was made. This 
failed, but in the evening, at the instance of Wil- 
liam T. Coleman, the first steps toward the organ- 
ization of a vigilance committee were taken. 
Criminals, instead of taking warning at these pro- 
ceedings, became bolder. June 10, the "Com- 
mittee of Vigilance of San Francisco'' was formal- 
ly organized. 

The avowed object of the new organization was 
to bring criminals to justice — through the courts 
if possible — more summarily if not. Reputa- 
tions, fortunes and lives were pledged in this cause 
and words were not minced in speaking of the 
corruption of the police and the laxity of those 
who " pretended " to administer justice. It was 
arranged that whenever it was necessary for the 
committee to meet, taps on the fire-bell should be 
the signal. The very night of its organization, 
the bell sounded and the members were summoned 
to their solemn duty. 

A man named John Jenkins, an ex-convict from 
Sydney, had been caught burglarizing a store. He 
was taken to the rooms of the committee, tried, 
found guilty, sentenced, taken to Portsmouth 
Square and hanged within six hours after his crime 
was committed. The effect of this prompt if 
somewhat summary administration of justice was 
immediate and satisfactory. Many of the best 



250 The Story of California 

citizens of San Francisco expressed their approval 
by enrolling themselves as members of the com- 
mittee. 

This first Vigilance Committee executed four 
men in all and banished fifty more. Hundreds 
of undesirable characters left the city feeling that 
they were no longer welcome. The efforts of the 
committee also had a salutary effect in arousing 
the officers of the state to a more careful perform- 
ance of their duties. Similar committees were 
organized in many of the interior towns. But 
there the need was not so great, and the distinc- 
tion between vigilance committee and mob rule 
was often lost sight of. Many crimes were com- 
mitted in the name of justice. 

Reprehensible as were such actions, there was 
a broad distinction between them and the acts of 
the San Francisco Committee. This was a last 
resort in the efforts of a crime-ridden population 
to restore peace and quiet in their city. But even 
this was deplored by many respectable citizens. 
Officials, lawyers, and others who were bred to 
an innate respect for the forms of law, character- 
ized it as mob violence. They even formed a 
counter organization known as the " Law and 
Order Party." This organization was headed by 
the southern aristocrats, who were successful in 
obtaining a condemnation of the Committee by 
the mayor and the grand jury. But the laboring 



The Struggle for Order 251 

classes were unanimously on the side of the Com- 
mittee and all efforts to put it down failed. 

The last formal act of the First Vigilance Com- 
mittee was performed June 30, 1852, but its mem- 
bers were ready to answer a call for months after 
that. Gradually, however, its vigilance relaxed 
and crime again began to show its head. This time 
the criminals showed an appreciation of their ear- 
lier experience and set about attaining their ends in 
a more circumspect manner. They attacked the 
purity of the ballot box as they thought it safer 
to steal under the cover of the law. An era of 
political corruption was inaugurated. Probably 
during this regime every scheme that was ever 
tried anywhere to corrupt ballot boxes was oper- 
ated successfully in San Francisco. The lure of 
wealth held the attention of the great body of 
citizens and crime found a richer " strike " in 
plundering at home than in digging afield. Polit- 
ical conventions were a farce and public officials 
were almost openly working in connection with 
the criminal elements. 

At last a man was found who had the courage 
to denounce these conditions. James King of 
William* began in the Daily Bulletin an ex- 

* James King was born in Georgetown, D. C, January 28, 
1822. When a young man he added " of William " to his 
name to distinguish himself from other James Kings living 
there at the time. William was his father's name and it was 
added in much the same way as " junior " or " senior " might 
be used. 



252 The Story of California 

posure of local corruption and to urge an uprising 
against it. His efforts, while generally approved, 
met with a widespread apathy. In spite of this 
King continued the fight and the criminals real- 
ized that in him they had a dangerous foe. May 
14, 1856, King was shot down by James Casey, 
a member of the Board of Supervisors, whom 
King had exposed as an ex-convict and thoroughly 
disreputable character. 

This attack upon King and his death from the 
wound six days later served to arouse the very 
spirit which he had long labored to bring to life. 
There followed an exhibition of popular indigna- 
tion remarkable for its intensity and power. Ten 
thousand persons surrounded the jail in which 
Casey was confined, demanding justice against 
the murderer. It took three thousand armed 
guards to keep them at bay. Word was spread 
that the Vigilance Committee was being reorgan- 
ized. William T. Coleman, who had been active in 
1 85 1, again took the lead and perfected a tem- 
porary organization. This new committee, 3,500 
strong, all armed, went to the county jail and de- 
manded Casey and Charles Cora who was also 
charged with murder. The sheriff would do noth- 
ing in the face of such a body, backed as they 
were by seven-eighths of the community. He de- 
livered the prisoners and Casey and Cora were 
tried with all legal formalities. They were found 
guilty and sentenced to be hanged. The next 



The Struggle for Order 253 

morning the permanent organization of the new 
Vigilance Committee commenced. Coleman was 
placed at its head with absolute control. 

James King's remains were followed to their 
last rest by a column of men four abreast which 
extended for a mile along the city streets. The 
prophet and the martyr of civic reform was thus 
buried with all the honors which his fellow-citi- 
zens could bestow upon him. And while this 
sad procession did honor to the murdered man, 
Casey and Cora were hanged in front of the 
Vigilance Headquarters. 

By July the Vigilance Committee had become 
an organized army of 6,000 men. The great 
body of the people of San Francisco heartily en- 
dorsed the movement. San Jose telegraphed an 
offer of 1,000 men for the Committee. In its 
ranks were to be found persons of all classes and 
creeds; laborers, merchants, and mechanics. 
Many of them were men of high standing who 
gave a higher tone to the acts of this Committee 
than that of 1851. The " Law and Order Party " 
were again in evidence and called for volunteers. 
A few lawyers and politicians responded. Gov- 
ernor Neely Johnson came under the influence of 
this clique and was prevailed upon to issue an or- 
der for the Committee to disband. No attention 
was paid to this order, however, and for several 
weeks the Committee was in full control. The 
ordinary business of the community, including 



254 The Story of California 

the courts, went on just as usual except that 
everything came under the supervision of the 
Committee. 

Four men were hanged and twenty-five ban- 
ished by this Committee, while over eight hun- 
dred deemed it wise to leave California. But the 
real work accomplished became apparent when 
in the autumn elections officials were elected who 
would carry on under the forms of law what the 
Committee had done without them. For years 
afterward San Francisco was a well-governed city. 

During the time when it was necessary for the 
Committee to assume full control of all the ac- 
tivities of the city, it had maintained a strongly 
fortified headquarters which was called Fort Vigi- 
lance. It was nicknamed " Fort Gunnybags " 
from the character of the breastworks which were 
erected in front of the building and ran far out 
into the street. Cannon were mounted on the 
walls, sentinels paced up and down, and an alarm 
bell stood ready to summon at a moment's notice 
the full power of the Committee. Within fifteen 
minutes after three taps had been sounded upon 
this bell, over 4,000 men would be in place ready 
for any emergency. 

The San Francisco Vigilance Committees rep- 
resented anything but mob rule. They were sim- 
ply the expression of the moral sense of the com- 
munity rising above the forms of law which had 
been prostituted by corrupt men so that they not 



The Struggle for Order 255 

only permitted but actually abetted crime. One of 
the members of the Committee of 1856, James D. 
Farrell, writes, " I went into that Committee with 
as earnest a sense of duty as I ever embarked in 
anything in my life. I went into it as a religious 
duty to society, although I knew I was going an- 
tagonistic to the law of my city and state. . . . 
We sunk individual self entirely; and our only ob- 
ject was to save the lives and property of the 
community." This serious expression undoubt- 
edly embodies very much the sentiment of the 
great majority of the members of the Commit- 
tee. They cheerfully met an expense of several 
hundred thousand dollars beside losing much more 
by the neglect of their own business which mem- 
bership in the Committee necessitated. 

The Vigilance Committees were a social neces- 
sity of their time. They were not a wrong in 
themselves so much as they were a confession of 
past sin on the part of the whole community. 
While hanging and banishing criminals was an 
invaluable part of their work, the most important 
result of their activities was the demonstration of 
the ability of the community soberly and justly 
to take in hand its great governmental problems 
and to solve them in such a way as to preserve 
the best interests of their city. When their work 
was done the Vigilantes dropped back into their 
places as plain American citizens, but they did 
not forget what they had been through and were 



256 The Story of California 

quick to see and eliminate any conditions which 
might lead die city back into the thraldom from 
which she had escaped. 

Thus was the struggle for order in California 
carried on. Order triumphed by going outside 
the forms of law, for here the evil-doers instead of 
fighting the law, had gained control of its ma- 
chinery. The Committees were not always in- 
fallible in their methods of handling the perplex- 
ing questions which came before them. In June 
of 1856, the second Committee was called upon 
to try David S. Terry, a judge of the Supreme 
Court of the state, for his part in an underworld 
brawl which had nearly resulted in the death of a 
man stabbed by him. The members of the Com- 
mittee quailed at the thought of the possible con- 
sequence of condemning to death a man so high 
in the government of the state and made the re- 
covery of his victim an excuse for his acquittal. 

After the suppression of violence, corruption 
became the greatest public enemy. A continuous 
fight was made against criminal activity of this 
kind, but not always successfully. One Harry 
Meigs was the greatest exponent of this form 
of evil. By means of forged city warrants, he 
swindled the confiding citizens out of thousands 
of dollars. The exact amount was never known 
because many never presented their certificates. 
When his actions were discovered he escaped to 
Chile, where he died eminent and respectable. 



The Struggle for Order 257 

In fighting corruption in its offices and legis- 
lative halls, California is not alone among her 
sister states. But in her great struggle to estab- 
lish order in her communities her experience is 
unparalleled, because of the conditions which she 
had to face in 1850 and the following years. As 
the problems she had to solve were unique, so 
must her method of solving them be unique. It 
is to the lasting credit of the men of the mining 
days that they succeeded in bringing order out of 
the existing chaos. 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE CIVIL WAR 

SINCE its admission to the Union in 1850, 
California had been Democratic except for 
one short period during which the American, or 
11 Know-Nothing," party was in power. This con- 
sistent adherence to the Democracy was due to the 
large southern element in the population and the 
activity of its leaders. William Gwin and some 
others had come to the new state for the express 
purpose of furnishing it with statesmen, and the 
absorption of the great mass of the people in the 
business of money-getting had allowed them to 
exercise considerable sway over the affairs of the 
commonwealth. 

The legislature of 1859 was strongly pro-slav- 
ery, and its members gave much support to the 
proposal to form an independent Pacific Republic. 
One of the representatives at the national capital 
went so far as to suggest the advisability of rais- 
ing the Bear Flag and, by calling upon the na- 
tions of the world to recognize the independence 
of California, save the state from the wreck of 
the Union. But such talk did not represent the 
feeling of the majority of the people of the 
state. Union demonstrations were held every- 

258 



The Civil War 259 

where and it was evident at least in the central 
and northern part, that the sentiment of its peo- 
ple was strongly in favor of the Union. 

Failing in the scheme of a Pacific Republic, the 
chivalry seized upon the apparent favor shown 
their cause in the southern end of the state as an 
opportunity to retrieve their declining fortunes. 
The legislature, subservient to the pro-slavery in- 
terest, authorized an election in the six southern 
counties of the state on the question of whether 
they would withdraw from the commonwealth of 
California and form a new state of their own. 
They voted in favor of withdrawing, giving the 
proposal a large majority. Governor Latham 
urged the matter on, thinking that if he could ac- 
complish the formation of a new slave state and 
thus restore the balance of power in the United 
States Senate there would be no limit to the 
heights to which he could aspire. But in spite 
of his efforts the matter could not be accomplished 
before the outbreak of the war. The first gun at 
Charleston was the signal at which all men must 
take an unequivocal stand on one side or the other 
of the great question. There was no longer a 
middle ground or opportunity for wavering. Af- 
ter that it would have been treason to take a fur- 
ther step to promote the secession of the southern 
counties, and the whole matter was soon forgotten 
in the rush of events. 

In 1 860 came the first great test. That year the 



260 The Story of California 

presidential campaign was a memorable one. It 
was vigorously, even fiercely fought. There was 
much bitter feeling on both sides, but the four 
votes of the state in the electoral college were 
given to Lincoln. Even more bitter was the local 
campaign of 1861. The war had begun and feel- 
ing was tense. But when the votes were counted 
it was found that California had declared in no 
uncertain terms for liberty and union. Governor 
Downey, who had half-heartedly espoused the 
Union cause, but urged compromise measures, was 
defeated. The machinery of government was 
taken from the hands of the southern chivalry and 
turned over to an anti-slavery legislature. Ice- 
land Stanford, a Republican, was elected gov- 
ernor by a majority of 23,000 votes. One of the 
first acts of the new legislature was to pass reso- 
lutions of loyalty to the Union, and to offer Cali- 
fornia's aid in its preservation. 

There were few persons in California who had 
thought that the South would actually fight against 
the Federal government. But the news of the 
firing upon Fort Sumter, April 24, 1861, con- 
vinced everyone not only that it would fight but 
that it was already fighting. Military enthusiasm 
immediately became widespread. Both sides felt 
it. The prevailing sentiment of loyalty in the 
state had not to any appreciable extent diminished 
southern sympathy. When the news of war ar- 
rived one-third of the officers of the Sixth Cali- 



The Civil War 261 

fornia Regiment resigned to enter the Confederate 
ranks. When it became unpleasant openly to ad- 
vocate the southern cause many of its sympathizers 
joined the " Knights of the Golden Circle," a 
secret society made up of pro-slavery men. Many 
Confederate newspapers were circulated, espe- 
cially in the southern counties. But all open dem- 
onstrations were sternly suppressed. 

While the Confederate ranks received their 
quota of California men, many more went East 
to join the northern armies. The first call for 
volunteers came in April, 1861, and the second 
in August of the same year. Five regiments of in- 
fantry and a regiment and a half of cavalry re- 
sponded. 

Great loyalist meetings were held in various 
cities. On May n, 1861, all business was sus- 
pended in San Francisco and large crowds, wildly 
enthusiastic, attended the monster meetings and 
cheered for the Union. Southern sympathizers 
were closely watched and any attempts at agita- 
tion in favor of slavery were quickly checked. 
The enthusiasm of the loyal supporters of the 
Union was kept at a high pitch, due largely to 
the efforts of Thomas Starr King, a San Francisco 
clergyman. He spoke fearlessly against slavery 
and kept the Stars and Stripes floating above his 
church throughout the war. 

The principal attempts at southern demonstra- 
tions were in the southern towns. This was due 



262 The Story of California 

not only to the fact that many immigrants from 
the southern states had settled there but because 
the native population was constantly fretting un- 
der what it considered the unjust burden of tax- 
ation which was levied upon it by a legislature 
which was so largely composed of men from the 
northern part of the state. The southern slav- 
ery agitators took every advantage of this senti- 
ment to arouse the populace against the existing 
government. 

Although the voice of the majority of the peo- 
ple of the state was loyal, the slavery men were 
in a strong position. The entire Federal patron- 
age throughout the administration of President 
Buchanan had been in their hands. General Al- 
bert Sidney Johnston was in command of the De- 
partment of the Pacific and so had control of the 
government arms and ammunition. He and Ed- 
mund Randolph, a Virginian who was practising 
law in San Francisco, formulated a plan to issue 
a proclamation of neutrality with the ultimate 
purpose of taking California out of the Union. 
The authorities at Washington were informed of 
this plot and sent General Edward Sumner to suc- 
ceed Johnston. The latter was not officially noti- 
fied of the proposed change until Sumner pre- 
sented his papers and demanded possession of the 
office. This was delivered without resistance and 
the scheme was defeated. 

Johnston left at once to join the Confederates. 



The Civil War 263 

He took with him a company of one hundred men 
from Los Angeles. Winfield Scott Hancock was 
then in command at that point. Because of his 
southern connections it was thought that he might 
be won over to the cause of slavery and Johnston 
exerted his influence in that behalf. Hancock 
was not to be won over, and in a striking way 
demonstrated his loyalty. Because of the prev- 
alence of Confederate sentiment it was deemed 
advisable to raise the Stars and Stripes over the 
Los Angeles court-house. The Confederates 
posted notices that whoever attempted it would be 
shot on the spot. Hancock did it. He was not 
shot. 

About 16,000 men in all answered the Union's 
call upon California for troops. They formed 
eight regiments of infantry, two of cavalry, one 
battalion of native California cavalry, and one 
battalion of mountaineers. While these volun- 
teers almost without exception did not take part 
in any of the battles of the Civil War, they per- 
formed a great service in protecting the state and 
thereby allowing the regular troops to take their 
place at the front. Their usefulness was shown 
when they promptly quelled a series of Indian 
outbreaks in the northern counties. 

There were skirmishes in Arizona and New 
Mexico, where troops were sent to drive back 
the Confederates who had occupied these ter- 
ritories, and open the mail routes. 



264 The Story of California 

Many of the men from California who went 
East to enlist rose to high positions in the military 
councils of the nation and became important fac- 
tors in the conduct of the war. Among these were 
William T. Sherman and Joseph Hooker, who 
came to be known as u Fighting Joe." 

The breaking out of the war brought many 
changes to California. The cutting off of the 
southern mail route led directly to the completion 
of the telegraph to San Francisco in October, 
1861. Congress passed the long hoped for Pa- 
cific railroad bill. The state became for the time 
being a Republican instead of a Democratic strong- 
hold. While the sanguine expectations of some 
people that with the overthrow of the southern 
chivalry many of the venalities of previous legis- 
latures would cease, were not fulfilled, still every 
act of the new party was intensely loyal. 

At least, every act but one. California's me- 
dium of exchange consisted entirely of gold and 
silver. She had no banks of issue and was there- 
fore unfamiliar with bank notes. Hard money 
she knew and liked. When the Federal govern- 
ment passed a law making its greenbacks legal 
tender for the payment of debts, California, with 
all her loyalty, could not go that far. The act 
worked a great injustice in the state enabling 
debtors to pay their debts in full with a currency 
which was depreciated to fifty and even as low as 
forty per cent of its face value. The result of 



The Civil War 265 

the agitation which ensued was the passage by the 
legislature of the so-called " specific contract act." 
This provided that a contract when drawn could 
specify the kind of money in which it should be 
paid and that this specification should be consid- 
ered a part of the contract and could be specifically 
enforced. The act stood the test of the courts 
and was declared constitutional by the highest 
tribunals of both the state and the nation. 

The unwavering manner in which the loyalists 
had handled the early situation in not allowing 
the southern sympathizers to secure a foothold in 
the state, had saved her citizens from the horrors 
of internal strife, not only of a warlike but even 
of a riotous nature. This enabled those already 
here to follow their peaceful occupations and the 
development of the state's resources went on un- 
checked. Thousands of immigrants flocked in 
from the troubled communities of the East to 
enjoy peace within its borders. These shared in 
digging from California's mountains and streams 
the precious gold which was to make the success- 
ful conclusion of the war a possibility. 

Though California was accused of disloyalty 
because of her conduct in the " greenback " mat- 
ter, that was the only point on which her patriot- 
ism could be called into question. No draft was 
ever necessary, for the number of her volunteers 
always far exceeded her quota. But of equal if 
not of greater importance to the Union were Cali- 



266 The Story of California 

fornia's contributions to the war funds. These 
contributions were of enormous amounts and were 
always in gold. It is not going too far to say, for 
it is an established fact, that had it not been for 
California gold the Union must have fallen. Both 
North and South were impoverished by the strain 
of the struggle and it was California gold that 
turned the tide. 

When it became known that the ravages of dis- 
ease were killing more Union soldiers than the 
bullets of the Confederates, a " sanitary commis- 
sion " was organized in New England, which was 
speedily advocated and established through the 
Union. This commission accomplished tremen- 
dous good in saving the lives of Union soldiers. 
It was supported entirely by private contributions. 
California and Oregon together supplied over one- 
third of its expenses. Thomas Starr King, who 
had become recognized as one of the greatest of 
anti-slavery orators, took the lead in this cause 
and to him in large measure is due the credit for 
its splendid success. 

California gave Lincoln 30,000 majority for 
his second term, and at the news of his assassina- 
tion a wave of sorrow and indignation swept over 
the state. Some talked rashly of retribution and 
the offices of several newspapers which had been 
southern sympathizers were demolished. But the 
excitement was controlled by the calmer spirits 
before more serious damage was done. 



The Civil War 267 

California's share in saving the Union was al- 
together a large one. She held down avowed se- 
cession at home ; she guarded her borders against 
invasion and put down Indian uprisings; she fur- 
nished more than her quota of troops; her war 
taxes were promptly paid; the loyal expressions of 
her legislature were a strong moral help. Rebel- 
lion was discouraged by a great majority of her 
people, and the dream of a Pacific Republic was 
nipped in the bud. But greatest of all she poured 
forth her golden flood into the coffers of the na- 
tion and made the continuance and successful con- 
clusion of the war a financial possibility. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE PACIFIC RAILROAD I 869 

FAURING all these years of the gold rush, the 
*--' struggle for order within her own borders, 
and that other struggle, far away yet of greatest 
moment, California was separated from the rest of 
her sister states of the Union by the same inac- 
cessible barriers which the early colonists of the 
forties and the gold-seekers of the fifties were 
forced to cross to reach their goal. The traveler 
and the immigrant must either cross the plains 
and the mountains, take the dangerous trip across 
the isthmus, or the long and perilous journey 
around Cape Horn. It took six weeks for news 
from the Atlantic Coast to reach San Francisco. 

While the entire state was thus cut off from 
the rest of the Union, the various sections of the 
state were themselves more or less isolated from 
each other. In many regions the primitive means 
of communication of Mexican days, the mule-train 
and the oxcart, were still in use. Between some 
of the principal towns stage lines had been estab- 
lished, but the service was very irregular and un- 
satisfactory. About the old stage coach days, 
however, cluster many of the most romantic stories 
of California history. 

268 



The Pacific Railroad 269 

The mail service was extremely irregular and 
it was one of the first cares of the United States 
government after California was admitted to the 
Union to establish a regular mail. But even after 
it was taken in hand by the Federal government, 
it was entirely inadequate for several years. This 
was due to the attempt on the part of those in 
charge to pursue the eastern policy of regulating 
expenditures by receipts. It was absolutely im- 
possible to retain postmasters in the service in 
California during the gold days under these cir- 
cumstances, and not until the attempt was aban- 
doned in 1854 did the service become what it 
should be. 

The first of the Pacific Mail Steamship Com- 
pany's boats, the California, arrived at San Fran- 
cisco February 28, 1849. On March 31 of the 
same year her sister ship, the Oregon, arrived, 
bringing as a passenger John W. Geary, Califor- 
nia's first postmaster, and afterwards mayor of 
San Francisco. Geary brought with him the first 
United States mail for California. He was com- 
missioned to establish local mail routes and to this 
task he immediately turned his attention. 

The Pacific Mail continued to be the only of- 
ficial means of mail communication between Cali- 
fornia and the East until 1858. This line of 
steamers not only carried the mails but did excel- 
lent service in bringing immigrants to California 
from the Isthmus of Panama during the gold 



270 The Story of California 

rush. The first improvement in the mail service 
upon the Panama route was the establishment in 
1 85 1 of a private courier route across the moun- 
tains by the California Star, then one of San 
Francisco's leading papers. A few couriers had 
been sent even earlier than that, but it was not 
until 1851 that it became a regular monthly ser- 
vice. Mail was sent to Sacramento by boat and 
from there to Salt Lake City by express rider. 

Telegraph lines came to assist in the dissemi- 
nation of intelligence at an early date. The first 
line was inaugurated at San Francisco in 1853. It 
ran between the city and the entrance of the bay 
and was used for signalling the arrival of ships. 
With this start, the telegraph spread rapidly. Its 
advance was more consistent than that of the 
mails. 

In 1859 tne famous Pony Express was estab- 
lished. This was the conception of Alexander 
Majors. It was formed of relays of horses and 
riders, one of whom was William F. Cody, famous 
in our day as " Buffalo Bill." Indian ponies were 
used and the posts were about twenty-five miles 
apart. Each rider covered from one hundred to 
one hundred and fifty miles. At his destination 
he delivered the sack to the next man who carried 
it on without a moment's delay. The horses were 
kept at a dead run and the distance from Atchi- 
son to Sacramento, two thousand miles, was often 
covered in eight days. The record run was made 



The Pacific Railroad 271 

with the news of Lincoln's inaugural in five days 
and eighteen hours. Letters and newspapers to 
be delivered by Pony Express were required to be 
written and printed upon tissue paper, and the 
rate was five dollars an ounce. Even at this the 
enterprise did not pay and was given up. One 
thing that it did do, however, was to demonstrate 
the feasibility of a railroad route through the 
Sierras and the Rockies. 

Such a railroad had been suggested as far back 
as 1832. By 1838 the idea was no longer a 
novelty, but ways and means for construction and 
operation were freely discussed. Asa Whitney 
first brought the matter to the attention of Con- 
gress in 1845. No action was taken upon it at 
that time, but Whitney's work in educating the peo- 
ple of the country to see the possibility, feasibility, 
and necessity of a Pacific railroad was invaluable. 
Various explorers, of whom Fremont is the best 
known, had found passes through the mountains, 
and the gold hunters of 1849-50 had made prac- 
tically all of them known. In 1853 three routes 
were actually surveyed. At first the one farthest 
north was generally favored. This would have 
opened up the Oregon country but by the time ac- 
tion was taken the influx of population to the 
California gold fields had established the preemi- 
nence of San Francisco, and the direct route to 
that city was the only one considered. 

Before this condition was reached, however, 



272 The Story of California 

there were long and bitter discussions over the 
question of route.. Like everything else in those 
days the railroad became entangled in the slavery 
struggle. The northerners wanted a northern 
route and the southerners were determined to have 
a southern route. Again, as soon as the project 
became clearly defined, local interests began reach- 
ing for local benefits on the question of route. 

In 1857 the outlook had been favorable for 
action. President Buchanan had expressed his 
strong advocacy. But again the slavery question 
overshadowed the railroad and no action was 
taken. In i860 both political parties inserted 
planks in their platforms declaring in favor of 
the immediate construction of the Pacific railroad. 
Various subsidy bills were introduced in Congress 
but none passed. This time the war itself inter- 
vened. While it halted the railroad project for 
a short time, it insured the passage of the neces- 
sary legislation in the near future, for it crystal- 
lized the already existing sentiment that it was 
absolutely necessary to connect California with 
the other states of the Union by rail. This feel- 
ing was strong in the East and it certainly played 
a large part in keeping California in the Union. 
All of her people knew how necessary the rail- 
road was for her development, and if the Union 
was destroyed what was to become of the rail- 
road? 

In September, 1859, a great railroad convention 



The Pacific Railroad 273 

was held in San Francisco. Delegates attended 
from every county in California, and from Ore- 
gon and Washington. A resolution favoring the 
central route as the most feasible was adopted. 
Theodore D. Judah was the chief promoter of 
this meeting, and to him is due the greatest share 
of the credit for finally accomplishing the great 
project. He was a young engineer who believed 
firmly in the practicability of the transcontinental 
railroad scheme and devoted his life to making it 
a reality. 

In the spring of 1861 he called a meeting at 
Sacramento for the further consideration of the 
matter. This meeting was not large but there 
were four men there who became deeply inter- 
ested in Judah's plans. These men were Leland 
Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, 
and Charles Crocker. On the 28th of June the 
Central Pacific Railroad Company was organ- 
ized with Stanford as president. 

Neither Stanford nor his associates were rich 
men but all were strong characters. Stanford was 
a leader in the Republican party which was just 
then coming to the front in California. His po- 
sition as governor later on was a great help. In 
his earlier years he had practised law in Wiscon- 
sin and had some practical knowledge of railroad 
building. Huntington was a shrewd, strong, ac- 
tive business man. To him was entrusted the 
management of the finances of the Company. 



274 The Story of California 

Crocker was a merchant of Sacramento. He was 
a tremendous worker and a splendid manager of 
men. Hopkins' traits were less marked than those 
of his associates, but he seems to have been the 
embodiment of a sound common sense which 
commanded their admiration. 

In October, Judah left for Washington to work 
for the passage of a railroad subsidy bill. Con- 
ditions were far from being ideal for such a proj- 
ect from a financial point of view, but were in 
the best possible shape from a political and mili- 
tary standpoint. Judah met Aaron A. Sargent, 
the newly elected member of Congress from Cali- 
fornia, on the way east and made him an ardent 
supporter of the railroad cause. Together they 
moulded the bill into much the form in which it 
finally passed and received the executive approval. 
Judah's work in securing the passage of this bill 
was of incalculable benefit. A year later he set 
out for Washington again to ask further aid. He 
was stricken with fever and died in New York. 
His loss was a severe one to his fellow-workers, 
although he was ably succeeded in his work at the 
national capital by Huntington. 

The law which was passed through the efforts 
of Judah, Huntington and Sargent in July, 1862, 
authorized the Union Pacific Railway Company. 
Its capital stock was fixed at $100,000,000 and 
was divided into shares having a par value of 
$1,000 each, with a provision that no one per- 



The Pacific Railroad 275 

son was to hold more than 200 shares. In return 
for the benefits which the country was to receive 
from the road, it was given five alternate sections 
of land per mile on each side of the right of way, 
which was 200 feet wide. No mineral lands were 
included in this grant, and all of the lands so 
granted were to be sold within three years after 
the completion of the road. The railroad itself 
was to be completed within twelve years from 
some point on the Missouri River to connect at 
or near the California boundary with a road to 
be constructed by the Central Pacific Company. 
This Company was chartered by the state of Cali- 
fornia to build a railroad from Sacramento east- 
ward to the Nevada line. In addition to the land 
grants there were issued thirty-year United States 
government bonds at six per cent to the amount 
of $16,000 for each mile of the road. Certain 
portions of the road where it was to cross the 
mountains were to have an even larger subsidy. 
The total amount of bonds issued for this pur- 
pose was $50,000,000. 

By an act passed two years later, additional 
benefits were received. A mode of procedure for 
the condemnation of private property was estab- 
lished. The par value of the shares was reduced 
from $1,000 to $100 each. The number of gov- 
ernment appointed directors on the board was in- 
creased and the time for completion was extended 



276 The Story of California 

one year. But better than all else for the pro- 
moters, the land grant was doubled. 

The advisability of this enormous government 
subsidy has been upheld on various grounds. The 
road was a political necessity; it was a military 
necessity; it would put a stop to Indian wars; it 
would furnish a comparatively inexpensive means 
of transportation for troops, mails and supplies; 
and most important of all, it would open up the 
great West. That the plan was right fundamen- 
tally will probably be conceded even today, but 
that in the laxity of its details it opened up im- 
mense opportunities for robbery is evidenced by 
the nefarious workings of the Credit Mobilier. 
This was one of the greatest scandals in the politi- 
cal life of the United States but the story of sordid 
dishonesty does not belong to California history. 
Suffice it to say that the men who were called upon 
to spend the vast sums secured through govern- 
ment aid, in the construction of the Union Pacific 
railroad, coveted these moneys and formed among 
their own number the Credit Mobilier, a con- 
struction company, by means of which they 
could pay these millions of dollars to themselves 
with nobody's approval but their own. When this 
attempt at legalized piracy came to light, the 
names of many of the country's most prominent 
men were dragged in the dust, many theretofore 
clean characters were besmirched and even some 
lives had to pay the toll of shame. 



The Pacific Railroad 277 

When the actual construction of the railroad 
was finally commenced there soon developed a 
race such as had never been seen before. Tre- 
mendous powers struggled for the prize. The 
Union Pacific wanted to build its road as far west 
as possible and the Central Pacific was equally 
desirous to lay its rails as far to the eastward as 
possible before the two should meet. The strat- 
egy was obvious. The greater the mileage the 
greater the share in the freight rates. In each 
case some conditions favored and some greatly 
hampered the contestants. The Central Pacific 
had to have its machinery and supplies sent around 
Cape Horn but had cheap Chinese labor. The 
Union Pacific must drag its materials overland or 
depend upon Missouri River boats. Both roads 
were being built through a new and uninhabited 
country, most of it a desert where both food and 
water were scarce. Machine shops had to be 
established as the construction progressed. The 
Central Pacific had plenty of timber but its right 
of way required much clearing and grading. The 
Union Pacific had for the most part to traverse a 
flat country where little grading was required but 
had no timber on the ground. 

The rivalry increased as the ends of the advanc- 
ing lines approached each other. Thousands of 
Chinese were imported for the Central Pacific; 
Irish and European immigrants were rushed to 
the work on the Union. At one time about 25,000 



278 The Story of California 

men were engaged in construction work. At the 
close of the war many soldiers joined the workers 
on the Union Pacific. This helped the builders 
to establish a sort of military discipline which 
made for greater efficiency. Many of the gangs 
could go through a full drill. This feature was 
especially appreciated in repelling Indian attacks. 
The construction work on the Central was in 
charge of Crocker, who had his 10,000 Chinese 
almost as thoroughly trained. In the spring of 
1869, when the rivalry had become intense, he es- 
tablished a world's record by laying ten miles of 
track in one day. 

This intense rivalry led to much waste labor. 
Each road had its graders far ahead of its track 
gangs and when the tracks finally met a way was 
graded for each road several miles beyond the 
junction point. But this was a small consideration 
when on April 28, 1869, the ends of the tracks 
of the two roads were joined at Promontory, 
Nevada. An immense crowd gathered in the des- 
ert to watch the ceremonies accompanying this 
notable event. Brass bands and locomotive whis- 
tles made a din which awoke new echoes from the 
desert silences. Arizona presented a spike of gold, 
silver, and iron. Nevada presented one of silver. 
The last spike was of California gold and was 
driven into a tie of California laurel. As Leland 
Stanford swung the sledge on this golden spike, 
each stroke was sounded by telegraph on the bell 



The Pacific Railroad 279 

of the City Hall in San Francisco. The news was 
also signalled to all the other large cities of the 
country. The rails joined, first one train pulled 
across the junction and back, and then one from 
the other road did likewise. The great Pacific 
railroad, the dream of Whitney and Judah, was 
a reality. 

Enthusiasm was widespread, for the importance 
of the event was felt in the East no less than in the 
West. Bells were swung. Buildings and ships 
were decorated. In Omaha one hundred guns 
were fired from Capitol Hill. Great public dem- 
onstrations were held in all the large eastern cities. 
But while the excitement was great in the East, it 
was nothing there compared to what it was in 
California. Here the people fairly went wild. 
They were at last a real part of the United States. 
Their railroad was in actual operation. The At- 
lantic seaboard, instead of being three or four 
weeks away, was but little more than a week. And 
none realized better than they that while the At- 
lantic seaboard was but a week's journey from 
California, that also meant that California was 
but a week's journey from the Atlantic seaboard. 

While the construction of the great transconti- 
nental road was progressing, several small roads 
had been built in California. The first of these 
was from Sacramento to Folsom, a distance of 
twenty-two miles. It was known as the Sacra- 
mento Valley Railroad and was opened on Feb- 



280 The Story of California 

ruary 22, 1856. The San Francisco and San Jose 
was opened between those two cities in January 
of 1864. These local lines were never of any 
great importance until they were absorbed by and 
became parts of the great system which was to 
cover the state. 

In 1865 the Southern Pacific Railway Company 
was incorporated to construct a road from San 
Francisco south to Los Angeles and San Diego, 
and thence easterly to the state line, there to con- 
nect with the Atlantic and Pacific which was build- 
ing westward from Springfield, Missouri, by way 
of Albuquerque, New Mexico. In the latter sev- 
enties the Southern Pacific completed its road 
from Los Angeles to Yuma, Arizona. But in the 
meantime the Atlantic and Pacific had been ab- 
sorbed by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe, 
which was trying to continue its own road through 
to Los Angeles. This move was bitterly opposed 
by the Southern Pacific but it was finally accom- 
plished in 1883. 

The next year, 1884, the Southern Pacific Com- 
pany was incorporated under the laws of Ken- 
tucky, and this company took over the holdings 
of both the Central Pacific Company and South- 
ern Pacific Railway Company. It also rapidly 
absorbed all of the connecting lines, including 
finally the Union Pacific itself. Since that time 
it has been the dominating system in California 
and the other western states, Its only rivals are 



The Pacific Railroad 281 

the " Santa Fe," and the Western Pacific which 
reached San Francisco in 191 1. The decision of 
the United States Supreme Court rendered in De- 
cember, 191 2, ordering the dissolution of the 
Southern Pacific-Union Pacific merger, is too re- 
cent for its effect to be even surmised. 

From its very inception the company building 
and owning the Central Pacific Railroad had been 
under the ban of public distrust. Hardly a rail- 
road in California but received more encourage- 
ment at home than the old Central Pacific. In 
the early days its directors were bitterly assailed 
through fear on the part of the people that they 
would be unable to complete their task and in the 
failure would shut off other and wealthier com- 
panies from the benefit of government aid. As 
the work progressed to a successful conclusion this 
feeling, of course, disappeared. 

The political influence of the railroad was not 
at first a matter of public concern. At that time 
the desire for the road excluded any protest 
against other matters so long as the road itself 
was built. Leland Stanford, while he was presi- 
dent of the railroad company, was elected gov- 
ernor of the state and no one questioned the 
prop/iety of the situation. While in that high 
office he gave the executive approval to no less 
than seven bills favoring the railroad. Even this 
does not seem to have awakened much antago- 
nism. But when, by clever manipulation, Stanford 



282 The Story of California 

was elected to the United States Senate, the feel- 
ing became widespread that the railroad was tak- 
ing altogether too active a part in the politics of 
the state. At the same time was commenced the 
agitation in California for the election of United 
States Senators by the direct vote of the people. 

Throughout its history the men at the head of 
the railroad have seemed to be favored by For- 
tune at every turn, but it must also be said that 
they have been ever alert to see that she was not 
under the necessity of proffering her favors more 
than once. On the other hand, however, they 
have been hampered by much vexatious litigation. 
This has been instigated both by private parties 
and by public officials. It is overzealousness on 
the part of the latter and possibly a desire to 
make political capital out of their actions, that 
has given the railroad the only excuse it can have 
for being in politics, that it is necessary to its self- 
preservation. How much foundation there is for 
this excuse the future history of the state must 
tell. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE CHINESE 

T IKE every other nation in the world, the Chi- 
«" nese Empire was represented in the great rush 
for California which took place during the gold ex- 
citement. At the beginning of the year 1 849 there 
were in the state only fifty-four Chinamen. At 
the news of the gold discovery a steady immigra- 
tion commenced which continued until 1876, at 
which time the Chinese in the United States num- 
bered 151,000 of whom 116,000 were in the 
state of California. This increase in their num- 
bers, rapid even in comparison with the general 
increase in population, was largely due to the fact 
that previous to the year 1869 China was nearer 
to the shores of California than was the eastern 
portion of the United States. Another circum- 
stance which contributed to the heavy influx of 
Chinese was the fact that the news of the gold 
discovery found southeastern China in poverty 
and ruin caused by the Taiping rebellion. Mas- 
ters of vessels made the most of this coincidence 
of favorable circumstances. They distributed in 
all the Chinese ports, placards, maps and pam- 
phlets with highly colored accounts of the golden 
hills of California. The fever spread among the 

288 



284 The Story of California 

yellow men as it did among others, and the ship- 
men reaped a harvest from passage money. 

Probably the most conspicuous characteristic 
of the Chinese is their passion for work. The 
Chinaman seemingly must work. If he cannot 
secure work at a high wage he will take it at a 
low wage, but he is a good bargainer for his labor 
and only needs the opportunity to ask for more 
pay. This is true of the whole nation, from the 
lowest to the highest. They lack inventiveness 
and initiative but have an enormous capacity for 
imitation. With proper instruction their indus- 
trial adaptability is very great. They learn what 
they are shown with almost incredible facility, and 
soon become adept. 

If the social conditions prevailing in California 
in the days of '49 are recalled, it is not difficult to 
realize how welcome were the Chinese who first 
came to the country. Here were men who would 
do the drudgery of life at a reasonable wage when 
every other man had but one idea — to work at 
the mines for gold. Here were cooks, laundry- 
men, and servants ready and willing. Just what 
early California civilization most wanted these 
men could and would supply. 

The result was that the Chinaman was wel- 
comed; he was considered quite indispensable. 
He was in demand as a laborer, as a carpenter, 
as a cook; the restaurants which he established 
were well patronized; his agricultural endeavors 



The Chinese 285 

in draining and tilling the rich tule lands were 
praised. Governor McDougal referred to him 
as " one of the most worthy of our newly adopted 
citizens." In public functions he was given a 
place of honor, for the Californians of those days 
appreciated the touch of color which he gave to 
the life of the country. The Chinese took a promi- 
nent part in the parades in celebration of the ad- 
mission of the state to the Union. The Alta Cali- 
fornia, a San Francisco newspaper, went so far 
as to say, " The China Boys will yet vote at the 
same polls, study at the same schools, and bow 
at the same altar as our countrymen." Their 
cleanliness, unobtrusiveness and industry were 
everywhere praised. 

The Chinese were surely in a land of milk and 
honey. They had left a land of war and starva- 
tion where work could not be had and food must 
be begged and here they found themselves in the 
midst of work and plenty. They were everywhere 
welcomed and their wages were such that they 
could save a substantial part to send back to the 
families they had left at home in China; or, if 
they did not wish to labor for masters, they could 
go to the mines. Here they could take an old 
claim which had been abandoned by the white 
miner and dig from it gold dust which to them 
represented wealth untold. They were careful 
not to antagonise these whites by prospecting 
ahead of them, and in return they received the 



286 The Story of California 

same treatment in the mining districts that they 
had met with in San Francisco. 

The Chinaman was welcomed as long as the 
surface gold was plentiful enough to make rich 
all who came. But that happy situation was not 
long to continue. Thousands of Americans came 
flocking in to the mines. Rich surface claims soon 
became exhausted. These newcomers did not 
find it so easy as their predecessors had done to 
amass large fortunes in a few days. California 
did not fulfil the promise of the golden tales that 
had been told of her. These gold-seekers were 
disappointed. In the bitterness of their disap- 
pointment they turned upon the men of other 
races who were working side by side with them 
and accused them of stealing their wealth. They 
boldly asserted that California's gold belonged 
to them. The cry of " California for the Ameri- 
cans " was raised and taken up on all sides. 

Within a short time the Frenchman, the Mexi- 
can and the Chilefio had been driven out and the 
full force of this anti-foreign persecution fell upon 
the unfortunate Chinaman. From the beginning, 
though well received, the Chinese had been a race 
apart. Their peculiar dress and pigtail marked 
them off from the rest of the population. Their 
camps at the mines were always apart from the 
main camps of white miners. This made it the 
easier to turn upon them this hatred of outsiders. 
With the great inrush of gold-seekers the aban- 



The Chinese 287 

cloned claims which the Chinese had been work- 
ing, again became desirable to the whites and the 
Chinese were driven from them with small con- 
cern. Where might made right the peaceable Chi- 
naman had little chance. 

The state legislature was wholly in sympathy 
with the anti-foreign movement, and as early as 
1850 passed the Foreign Miners License law. 
This imposed a tax of twenty dollars a month on 
all foreign miners. Instead of bringing into the 
state treasury the revenue promised by its fram- 
ers, this law had the effect of depopulating some 
camps and of seriously injuring all of them. San 
Francisco became overrun with penniless foreign- 
ers and their care became a serious problem. The 
law was conceded to be a failure and was repealed 
the following year. 

By the time this was done, however, the Chinese 
had become the most conspicuous body of for- 
eigners in the country and therefore had to bear 
the brunt of the attacks upon the foreign element. 
Governor Bigler suddenly became inspired with 
the realization of the value of an attack upon 
them as a political asset. He sent a special mes- 
sage to the legislature in which he charged them 
with being contract " coolie " laborers, avaricious, 
ignorant of moral obligations, incapable of being 
assimilated, and dangerous to the public welfare. 
The result was a renewal of the foreign miners' 
tax, but in a milder form than its predecessor. 



288 The Story of California 

This did not satisfy the miners, who were at 
that time the strongest body in the community, 
and the next year the tax was again made pro- 
hibitive. 

But it was not only the miners who hated the 
Chinese. The yield of the placers began to de- 
cline in 1853-4, and the discovery of gold in Aus- 
tralia brought on a financial panic in the latter 
year. Prices, rents and values fell rapidly and 
many business houses failed. There were strikes 
for higher wages among laborers and mechanics 
though the prevalent rate for skilled labor was 
ten dollars per day and for unskilled three dol- 
lars and a half. Investors became alarmed and 
withdrew their capital. Thousands of unsuccess- 
ful miners drifted back into San Francisco and 
began to look for work at their old time occupa- 
tions. The labor market was glutted and an 
enormous number were out of work. 

To these unemployed men the presence of 
thousands of Chinese, thrifty, industrious, cheap, 
and above all, un-American, was obviously the 
cause of their plight. The cry was raised that 
the large number of Chinese in the country tended 
to injure the interests of the working classes and 
to degrade labor. It was claimed that they de- 
prived white men of positions by taking lower 
wages and that they sent their savings back to 
China; that thus they were human leeches suck- 
ing the very life-blood of this country. Whoever 



The Chinese 289 

came to their defense was immediately accused of 
having mercenary motives or of being half-witted. 

The " coolie " fiction of Governor Bigler was 
seized upon. In the first half of the nineteenth 
century a pseudo-slave trade had sprung up in 
transporting Chinese laborers under contract to 
work at a certain wage for a certain period to 
Cuba, and parts of South America. Such labor- 
ers were ignorantly called " coolies " by those 
who were not familiar with the Chinese language. 
The word itself comes from two Chinese words, 
41 koo " meaning to rent, and " lee " meaning 
muscle. The coolies are those who rent out their 
muscles, that is, unskilled laborers. In the four 
classes of China they rank with the third, being 
considered a higher class than the merchants but 
below the scholars and farmers. The word in 
no way signifies any sort of bondage. The " coo- 
lies " are perfectly free just as our own laborers 
are. 

The Chinese who came to California were 
largely of this class and so described themselves 
on their arrival. It did not take long for the 
anti-Chinese agitators to define a " coolie " as a 
contract laborer and to describe how he was 
bound to a master in China to work a certain 
number of years at a small wage and how this 
terrible system was eating the very vitals out of 
American labor. This American labor about 
which there was so much concern was almost 



290 The Story of California 

wholly composed of Irish and other European 
aliens who were no more American than the 
Chinese. But they had a vote in prospect. The 
Chinese did not. 

While the success of the coolie fiction was 
largely due to the fact that there were so many 
who wanted to believe it, a number of circum- 
stances combined to give it greater vitality. Most 
of the business transactions of the Chinese were 
done through their benevolent organizations which 
came to be locally known as the " Six Companies.' 1 
The Companies often contracted for large bodies 
of laborers and this fact led the unthinking to 
conclude that these laborers were under contract 
with the Six Companies to work for them as they 
should direct. This was not the true situaticm. 
These Companies simply acted as clearing-houses 
for all sorts of transactions among the Chinese, 
as they had found that they could handle things 
in a strange land more satisfactorily through such 
associations than they could individually. 

Another thing which strengthened the coolie 
fiction was the manner in which the Chinese were 
employed on the construction work of the Central 
Pacific Railroad. Because of the scarcity of labor 
the men in charge of this construction work had 
sent an agent to China to secure Chinese laborers. 
In order to get these men over to this country, 
it was necessary to advance their passage-money 
and other expenses. To cover this loan each 



The Chinese 291 

Chinaman so employed signed a promissory note 
for $75. This note provided for monthly instal- 
ment payments running over a period of seven 
months and was endorsed by friends in China. 
Each laborer was guaranteed a wage of $35 a 
month. This financial arrangement was of course 
seized upon and made much of by the anti-Chi- 
nese agitators as the final proof of " coolieism." 

The belief that the Chinese were contract labor- 
ers was one of those unfortunate errors which 
sometimes become current in our civic life, and 
by frequent repetition receive almost universal ac- 
ceptance. In the present instance this phantom of 
Chinese slavery became so thoroughly a part of 
the political life of the Pacific Coast that no at- 
tempt was made to reach the truth of the matter. 
Every man in public life was under so binding 
a necessity to accept the popular belief in regard 
to the Chinese and to truckle to it at every turn, 
that for one to seek the real truth of the matter 
was to end forthwith his political career. 

In the years following 1854 this unthinking, 
prejudiced, anti-Chinese movement ran riot. Va- 
rious schemes were proposed for ridding the 
country of the Chinese as if they were a pest. 
It was seriously suggested that they be all returned 
to China, but as this would have involved an ex- 
pense of about seven millions of dollars and ten 
or a dozen ships for every vessel that was avail- 
able, it was reluctantly laid aside. This scheme 



292 The Story of California 

failing, it was asserted that they could at least 
be driven from the mines. But as this would have 
deprived the state of a large revenue from licenses 
and would have crowded the outcasts in still 
greater numbers to the cities and agricultural dis- 
tricts, this too was abandoned. 

Various local authorities passed legislation in- 
tended to harass them. Most of the Chinese were 
in San Francisco, so the principal efforts were 
made in that city. The famous u pig-tail ordi- 
nance " required all convicted male prisoners to 
have their hair cut within one inch of their heads. 
This particular piece of idiocy was vetoed by the 
mayor but others almost as vicious were passed. 
Many of these were declared unconstitutional by 
the courts, but even the courts were not at all 
times consistent friends of the Chinaman. The 
worst blow which they received was embodied in 
a decision given by the Chief Justice of the state 
Supreme Court. There was a statute on the 
books which prohibited " negroes and Indians " 
from testifying against a white man in the courts 
of the state. The court held, in a brilliantly logical 
opinion, that this included the Chinese for the 
reason that in the days of Columbus all of the 
countries washed by Chinese waters had been 
called " Indian." 

During the Civil War other issues overshad- 
owed the Chinese question and the Orientals had 
a brief respite. But in 1868 the Burlingame 



The Chinese 293 

treaty was entered into between the United States 
and China. It provided for reciprocal exemption 
from persecution on account of religious belief, 
the privilege of schools and colleges, and in fact 
it agreed that every Chinese citizen in the United 
States should have every privilege which was ex- 
pected by the American citizen in China. Though 
naturalization was especially excepted, the provi- 
sions of this treaty aroused a storm of antagonism 
on the Pacific Coast. The labor agitators decried 
the treaty as a betrayal of the American working- 
man, and the whole Chinese question was up 
again in more violent form than ever before. 

The panic of 1873 an( ^ lts l ^ effects brought 
the matter sharply before the public and especially 
that portion of it that was out of work. The crisis 
was averted for the time, however, by the open- 
ing of the Consolidated Virginia mines in Nevada 
and the local wave of prosperity which followed. 
But in 1877 the bottom fell out of the whole west- 
ern business world and brought back the old agita- 
tion with tenfold violence. It was made worse 
by the always apparent fact that the Chinese were 
the last to join the unemployed. In fact they 
seldom joined at all. Gardening, farming, laun- 
dering, cooking and housework were almost mo- 
nopolized by them. The railroads employed thou- 
sands of them and they were engaged to some 
extent in manufacturing. 

This was more than could be borne by the 



294 The Story of California 

much-oppressed laboring man, who claimed that 
the Chinese were robbing him of his bread and, 
which was worse, the only one who benefited by 
their labor was that other arch-enemy of the la- 
boring man, the capitalist. Something must be 
done. The courts had annulled the efforts of 
their municipal authorities and legislatures when 
these had tried to help them; Congress had 
thrown them but a stone ; the treaty-making power 
had betrayed them; they must take matters into 
their own hands. And this they proceeded to do. 
Their method of procedure was in most cases to 
sack and burn the Chinese laundries and other 
commercial establishments operated by the Ori- 
entals. It was left for Los Angeles to furnish the 
most terrible example of all. Here nineteen 
Chinamen were hanged and shot in one evening. 
The massacre was accompanied by the theft of 
over $40,000 worth of their goods. 

It was in the south in fact that the violent op- 
position to the Chinese had first found strong 
supporters. Here were many who were accus- 
tomed to assert the " superiority " of their race 
and to attach the idea of servitude to all inferior 
races. To work at all was well-nigh intolerable, 
but to work beside a " pig-tail " upon whose 
wearer even the wild Indian looked down, was 
too abasing to be borne. From these southerners 
this feeling rapidly spread among the immigrants 
from the poorer countries of Europe, who at home 



The Chinese 295 

were in a position almost of servitude. Arrived 
in this country and endowed with the rights of 
citizenship, for which they are utterly unfitted, 
they immediately seek to raise themselves higher 
in their own estimation by trampling underfoot 
the rights of others. 

But, beside these prejudices due to race-feeling 
and ignorance, there were real causes of discon- 
tent against the Chinese. They were not given 
to sexual immorality themselves but some of 
them engaged in the business of importing women 
whom they would prostitute to others for gain. 
Gambling was an all-prevalent vice. These two 
features of the Chinese situation received far more 
emphasis even among thoughtful people than 
should have been given to them. This came about 
because of the practice of " seeing Chinatown," 
which like u seeing the world " too often meant 
seeing the worst possible side of it. The propor- 
tion of prostitutes among the Chinese was little 
if any higher than among the other races in Cali- 
fornia at the time, but much publicity spread the 
idea of great numbers. Gambling, too, while very 
generally indulged in by the Chinese, was never 
among themselves the vice which was made of it 
by the Americans who frequented the Chinese 
houses. The Chinaman gambled for small stakes 
as an amusement and never to his own destruction. 
But while gambling and immorality have been 
over-emphasized, one charge remains against them 



296 The Story of California 

in all its original strength. The Chinese quarter 
was very unclean. Their cleanly persons and 
spotless linen were in strange contrast to their 
filthy homes, overrun as they were with rats and 
other vermin. 

Evil as were these characteristics of the Chi- 
nese, they were never a sufficient excuse for the 
outrages that were perpetrated upon them. These 
bore no relation to the real grievances, but were 
in a large measure the unreasoning acts of irre- 
sponsible men who were for the most part aliens 
themselves. Calmly handled, the Chinese ques- 
tion never would have caused a disturbance in 
California. In connection with a violent race- 
hatred, it kept the state in turmoil for the first 
thirty years of its existence. Even today it oc- 
casionally recurs to furnish capital for politicians 
who are unable to find any other issue. Of late 
years, however, it has been very largely super- 
seded in this role by the Japanese question. 



CHAPTER XXV 

KEARNEY AND KEARNEYISM 

T^HE commercial depression which began in the 
* eastern states in 1873, was most severely felt 
in California in 1876. Its effect was aggravated 
here by an accompanying tremendous fall in the 
value of mining stocks. Everybody in California, 
from the richest to the poorest, speculated in min- 
ing stocks. All the savings of a great majority of 
the people went into this form of gambling. With 
the crash which brought the prices of all stocks 
tumbling down to nothing, came financial straits 
for many thousands of families. This was true 
not only of the poorer classes but even in the mid- 
dle class the pinch of want was felt. Work was 
very scarce and the great number of the unem- 
ployed were not only in dire straits themselves 
but their presence served to lower wages for those 
who were at work. 

While the large majority of the people of the 
state were in the grip of this commercial depres- 
sion there were a number of men in San Fran- 
cisco who either in mining or railroad building 
had amassed enormous fortunes. These million- 
aires boasted their luxury and elegance and the 
newspapers were filled with stories of their ex- 

297 



298 The Story of California 

travagances. The unemployed workingmen of 
San Francisco, whose numbers were daily aug- 
mented by disappointed and penniless miners re- 
turning from the mines, contemplated from their 
hovels of starvation the gaudy palaces which had 
been erected by these men who, a few years be- 
fore, had been no better off than themselves. 

The hatred of the unemployed for these sons 
of fortune was increased tenfold by the fact that 
Chinese were very generally employed by them 
as servants and laborers. The masses of the 
proletariat, made up largely of foreigners of lit- 
tle intelligence, saw in this situation convincing 
evidence of a conspiracy to deprive them of work 
and to starve them to death. To them the com- 
mercial depression, the financial panic, the changed 
labor situation, meant nothing. All they could 
comprehend was that one man had more than he 
could possibly need while another went hungry. 
They turned to the lawmakers, but there came no 
relief from that direction. Neither political party 
gave promise of substantial improvement of their 
condition. 

In this sorry state the homeless thousands of 
California decided that they must take matters 
into their own hands and do something themselves 
to better conditions. The time was ripe for a 
demagogue and none of the kind ever had a place 
more splendidly prepared for him. Nature ab- 
hors a vacuum in politics as in physics and the 



Kearney and Kearney ism 299 

place was promptly filled. There were many agi- 
tators to stir up the crowds but the prince of them 
all was Denis Kearney. 

Kearney had been at one time a sailor but at 
the time of his elevation to the leadership of the 
unemployed was a drayman. He was an Irish- 
man and had some of the native eloquence which 
is characteristic of that race. This he had de- 
veloped by a course of training at a Sunday de- 
bating club called the " Lyceum of Self-Culture." 
He had been of good reputation until he lost his 
savings in stock speculation, when he turned to 
political agitation. He became a demagogue of 
a common type, blatant and confident, but with- 
out political ability or constructive talent. 

The Kearney agitation reached its height in 
1877. Meetings of trade union men were called 
to express sympathy with the strikers of Penn- 
sylvania. At that time there were in San Fran- 
cisco twenty-five unions comprising 3,500 men. 
Large numbers of these attended the meetings 
which were held on the vacant sand lots near the 
city hall. These men had real grievances which 
were enlarged upon with much oratorical skill by 
the speakers who fanned the flames of discontent. 
The excitement increased until the language of 
the demagogues became so violent that the busi- 
ness men formed a committee of safety. This 
new " vigilance committee," which like its prede- 
cessors was under the leadership of the redoubt- 



300 The Story of California 

able Coleman, was known as the " Pick-handle 
Brigade " from the weapons which it chose as 
the most effective for overcoming the efforts of 
the sandlotters. They rendered good service in 
preventing the burning of residences on Nob Hill 
and the destruction of the wharves of the Pacific 
Steamship Company, two outrages attempted by 
the rioters. 

Denis Kearney forced himself to the front and 
aired his oratorical abilities at these sand-lot meet- 
ings. His earnestness caught the crowd and he 
soon became a popular idol. As he began to feel 
his power he became more and more violent. He 
urged every workingman to add a musket to his 
equipment and suggested that a little judicious 
hanging of capitalists would be in order. But 
his loud mouthings were confined to generalities 
and he never countenanced any specific act of vio- 
lence. Vituperation was his forte, not accom- 
plishment. 

The audiences which at first cheered his ef- 
forts were largely composed of vagabonds. But 
the San Francisco Chronicle, seeing an opportu- 
nity to increase its circulation and influence, began 
to print sensational reports of the sand-lot meet- 
ings and took up Kearney's cause. Not to be 
outdone by its rival, the Call, the other large San 
Francisco paper, hastened to follow the Chron- 
icle's example. So Kearney suddenly found him- 
self substantially backed by the influential press 



Kearney and Kearneyism 301 

of the city. The attendance at the sand-lot meet- 
ings increased. Ward clubs were formed. Ora- 
tors drew rosy pictures of the splendid condition 
of the workingman that was to be in the near 
future. The infection spread. Ignorant loafers 
revelled in visions of themselves enjoying all the 
comforts of the millionaires and some other re- 
finements which their own taste demanded. 

Kearney continued to lead this agitation and 
finally succeeded in raising sufficient commotion to 
get himself arrested and thrown into jail. He was 
then a " glorious martyr " and the thought of 
being of enough importance to be kept under 
guard filled him with joy. But he denied many 
of his preachings when brought to trial and re- 
tracted others. He was acquitted and freed. The 
incident greatly increased his following. On 
Thanksgiving day over 7,000 men marched to 
the sand lot in a grand parade in his honor. The 
day's proceedings closed with a resolution to wind 
up the national banks and the crowd dispersed. 

The immediate result of Kearney's agitation 
was the formation of the Workingmen's Party of 
California. J. G. Day was elected president and 
Kearney secretary. The infant party had been in 
existence but a week when it was divided into 
hostile factions. A reorganization took place and 
Kearney was later elected its president, while Day 
was relegated to the office of vice-president. Like 



302 The Story of California 

all other political parties this one began to pass 
resolutions and to make platforms. 

Its demands were numerous. The first was that 
all workingmen unite against the encroachments of 
capital. They would then wrest the government 
from the control of the rich and place it in the 
hands of the people. They would rid the country 
of the Chinese because their presence tended to 
degrade labor and aggrandize capital. They 
would destroy land monopoly. They would de- 
stroy great riches by taxing them out of existence. 
They would elect none but competent working- 
men and their friends to any office whatever, be- 
cause " our shoddy aristocrats want an emperor 
and a standing army to shoot down the people. " 
The new party would encourage no riot to attain 
their ends, but if riot was started they would not 
volunteer to repress it. Let those who had made 
it necessary suppress it themselves. 

These are fair samples of the numerous de- 
mands made by the Workingmen's Party. The 
same theme of oppression by the rich and salva- 
tion by the exaltation of the poor was played upon 
with all the variations possible in the speech of 
ignorant demagogues. In all that they or the new 
party did there was nothing substantial or con- 
structive, but it all served to keep Kearney and 
his confreres on the pinnacle of popularity. 

His fervor again brought him under the care 
of the city authorities. But incarceration helped 



Kearney and Kearneyism 303 

more than it hurt him. He was again released 
and received as a hero by his followers. He was 
crowned with flowers. His influence spread rap- 
idly wherever there was a sufficient number of the 
unemployed to form a meeting. These groups 
were formed into clubs of the Workingmen's 
Party. Kearney, encouraged by this outside sup- 
port, started out to stump the state for the pur- 
pose of making converts. His expenses were paid 
by collections taken up at the sand-lot meetings. 
In the towns large numbers flocked to hear him 
but he met with scant encouragement from the 
farmers. The discontented everywhere joined the 
new party. Newspapers gave the movement 
force. Anti-Chinese sentiment, carefully played 
upon, augmented it. The Republicans, noting 
that its members were drawn largely from the 
ranks of the Democratic party, covertly encour- 
aged the movement. 

On his return to San Francisco, Kearney be- 
came intoxicated with his power and assumed 
the air of a potentate. He became wilder than 
ever and his violent threats of terrorism and 
dynamiting resulted in his frequent arrest. The 
political power of the Workingmen's Party began 
to be felt. With the coming of this actual power 
in the state, however, came the seeds of discord 
which led to Kearney's downfall. Accusations 
were spread abroad that he had been bribed in 
the interests of the railroad and the banks. He 



304 The Story of California 

was also charged with misappropriating the funds 
of his party. There was probably no foundation 
for these charges but they were enough to break 
Kearney's hold on the people. He was deposed 
from his office of president. His popularity rap- 
idly declined. The crowds tired of his empty ha- 
rangues, and the lack of definite results. 

In 1878 Kearney went East to take part in the 
labor troubles in that end of the country. He 
felt that there his aid would be appreciated. But 
such was not the case. He met with no success 
and after three years of effort returned to Cali- 
fornia where he was considered as a spent rocket. 
His popularity was gone. He had no political in- 
fluence. Nowhere could he break in to a position 
of prominence or power. Without power his 
character led him from bad to worse and for 
sometime before he died he was confined to the 
house of correction in San Francisco. 

There was but one tangible result of all the 
agitation and resolving of the Workingmen's 
Party. For many years there had been a growing 
sentiment in the state in favor of a new constitu- 
tion. The leaders of the Kearney party repeatedly 
demanded that a new instrument should be drawn. 
Their idea was to make it of such a type that the 
Workingmen's Party could use it at all points in 
their efforts to " cinch " capital. While this 
was not the sentiment of the majority of the peo- 



Kearney and Kearneyism 305 

pie of the state, the repeated demands served to 
crystallize the matter and the legislature called 
for a constitutional convention to be held in Sep- 
tember of 1878. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE CONSTITUTION OF 1 879 

r "PHE inadequacy of the constitution of 1849 an( ^ 
* the laws enacted thereunder had long been 
recognized by the people of California. All the 
old constitution contained concerning the taxing 
power was embraced in four lines. It left the 
legislature free to levy any tax as it saw fit. This 
freedom had been extensively taken advantage 
of with grave results. Also there was no restric- 
tion on the financial operations of the legislature. 
This led to the borrowing of large sums from one 
fund to squander in another. There was no re- 
striction on salaries or fees and consequently both 
were far too large. The public domain was left 
entirely at the disposal of the legislature. The 
apportionment of representation was very faulty, 
some of the newer counties having no representa- 
tives at all. The governor was unrestricted in 
the use of the pardoning power. All of the evil 
conditions possible under such a lax system as this 
prevailed to an alarming extent. 

In 1868 the legislature created a Code Com- 
mission to codify the laws. Their work was pre- 
sented in four divisions — Political Code, Civil 
Code, Code of Civil Procedure, and Penal Code. 

306 



The Constitution of 1879 307 

These codes were adopted and went into force 
in March, 1872. The cost of this undertaking was 
about $50,000, but it was one of the best invest- 
ments the state ever made. This system of law 
is still the law of the state though it has been con- 
tinually amended to meet changing conditions and 
the discovery of defects and inadequacies. 

In addition to the adoption of the codes, the 
legislature had four times recommended to the 
people the drafting of a new constitution, but 
the idea had been rejected at the polls. By the 
time Kearney had achieved his prominence, how- 
ever, the conviction was generally entertained that 
California needed a constitution specially adapted 
to her needs. Kearney and his fellow-agitators 
artfully dwelt upon what they claimed to be the 
fact that of the 850,000 people living in the state, 
150,000 were living in comparative affluence, while 
the other 700,000 were struggling for existence. 
They saw hopes not only of changing the tax laws 
and other statutes to which they objected, but 
also of political preferment for themselves if the 
constitution were revised. The result was that in 
1877 an overwhelming majority declared for a 
new constitution, and the convention which was 
to frame the new instrument was called for the 
fall of 1878. The Kearneyites looked upon this 
as a step toward the abolishment of all their ills. 

The convention met in the Assembly room of 
the Capitol at Sacramento and was called to order 



308 The Story of California 

on September 28, 1878. The total number of 
delegates was 152. Of these the Workingmen's 
Party had elected forty-nine. Almost half (74) 
of the members were elected on a non-partisan 
ticket, while the Republicans and Democrats were 
represented by ten men each. The workingmen 
with the farmers had a clear majority of the votes 
but they had not a great allowance of brains. 
There were sixty lawyers in the convention, and 
the ultra-conservatism of their training served to 
balance to some extent the radicalism of the anti- 
capitalistic element. 

The wild follies which would have been per- 
petrated in the name of law by this element, had 
it not been for the presence of a conservative 
force, can only be surmised, but we have a list of 
the propositions submitted by some of its members 
and they are an indication of what might have 
been. Foremost among these were anti-Chinese 
measures and many of them were adopted though 
afterward held to be at variance with the con- 
stitution and treaties of the United States. In 
addition to those adopted it was proposed to pro- 
hibit any Chinese to trade or peddle or carry on 
any mercantile business. Also anyone who had 
employed a Chinaman or bought anything of them 
within the preceding ninety days was to be de- 
prived of his vote and the use of the courts. A 
" perfect " eight hour law and a " perfect " lien 
law were twin proposals whose " perfection " did 



The Constitution of 1879 309 

not win for them the consideration which those 
who drafted them thought they deserved. An- 
other suggestion was to abolish the militia as " all 
fuss and feathers." One man introduced a pro- 
vision for making allegiance to God and the state 
one. 

Though these absurdities were avoided, the 
constitution as it was finally submitted to the peo- 
ple was a unique instrument. It contained many 
new and wholly untried provisions. The princi- 
pal criticism directed against it, however, was that 
it was a code of laws, and not a constitution. This 
was in a measure true. It was three times as long 
as the constitution of 1849 and contained many 
provisions whose place was more properly in the 
statute books. There were two objects in this. 
One was to remove certain parts of the govern- 
mental process from the control of the legislative 
whim; the other to protect labor against capital. 

The work of the convention was completed on 
March 3, 1879, and the result of its labors was 
submitted for the approval of the people on May 
7 of that year. Capital, as represented by all 
the moneyed interests, opposed its adoption, 
threatening all kinds of dire evil to come in its 
wake. All of the stock objections of the so-called 
" stand-pat " element of society were urged 
against it. Some of them were in this case justi- 
fiable but the greater part of them, as usual, were 
overdrawn. The really objectionable features 



310 The Story of California 

had been allowed to go into the instrument by the 
conservative members of the convention in the 
hope that they would defeat the entire constitu- 
tion ; but in this they were wrong. The new con- 
stitution was adopted by a vote of approximately 
78,000 as against 67,000 who were opposed to it. 

A strange feature of the vote was that, though 
the instrument had been to a large extent drawn 
by the representatives of the laboring party, and 
was supposed to embody their ideas, it was re- 
jected by nearly 1,600 votes, in San Francisco, 
where that party was in control. This adverse 
majority was overcome by the strong granger or 
farmer vote in its favor. The support of the 
agricultural classes was won because of their be- 
lief that it would lighten their burdens of tax- 
ation. 

The new organic law became effective on Jan- 
uary 1, 1880, and as it is still the fundamental 
law of the state it may be briefly summarized here. 
It opens with a somewhat lengthy bill of rights. 
This guarantees the protection of life, liberty, 
the pursuit of happiness, religious freedom, trial 
by jury, free speech, the right of public assembly, 
speedy trial for those accused of crime, freedom 
from arrest for debt except in case of fraud, and 
that there shall be no property qualification for 
any person to vote or hold office. 

The legislature is divided into two houses, the 
senate with forty members and the assembly with 



The Constitution of 1879 311 

eighty. The former are elected for a four year 
term and the latter for two years. The powers 
of this body are carefully circumscribed. The 
state can issue bonds for any substantial sum only 
by vote of the people. The manner in which ap- 
propriations can be made is given in detail, in 
order that the extravagance of former legislatures 
may be avoided. Express directions are given to 
the legislature to pass laws for the limitation and 
regulation of charges for services performed by 
public service corporations. Lobbying is made 
a felony. Members of the legislature receive a 
salary of one thousand dollars for each regular 
session, ten dollars a day for extra sessions, and 
mileage not to exceed ten cents a mile. 

The term of office of the governor of the state 
is four years. He must have been a resident of 
California for at least five years preceding his 
election. His powers are those usually exercised 
by governors of the states of the United States. 
He cannot, during his term of office, be elected 
a Senator of the United States. Other officers of 
the executive department, elected by the people, 
are a Lieutenant-governor, Secretary of State, 
Controller, Treasurer, Attorney-general and Sur- 
veyor-general. 

The judicial power of the state is vested in the 
senate sitting as a court of impeachment, a su- 
preme court of seven members, three district courts 
of appeal consisting of three judges each, superior 



312 The Story of California 

courts of general jurisdiction in each county, and 
justices of the peace in each township. These are 
supplemented by the police courts of the large 
cities, the recorders' courts of the small towns, 
and by the township courts into which the justices' 
courts in the large cities have been organized by 
subsequent amendments to the constitution. The 
District Courts of Appeal, established by amend- 
ment in 1905, are located at San Francisco, Los 
Angeles and Sacramento, and the Supreme Court 
holds sessions in each of those cities twice in each 
year. 

Liberal provision is made for education. A 
Superintendent of Public Instruction is at the head 
of the educational system of the state, and the 
local administration is in the hands of County 
Superintendents of Schools. The proceeds of all 
the lands granted to the state by the United States 
are devoted to a special fund for the schools. The 
legislature is directed to provide a system of com- 
mon schools so that there shall be maintained in 
each district a school during at least six months 
of the year. The practice goes beyond the re- 
quirement here and the school term is in general 
forty weeks. Text-books are adopted by the State 
Board of Education, printed by the state, and 
distributed at cost to pupils.* Provision is made 

*Text books are now free, by amendment adopted in 
November, 191?. 



The Constitution of 1879 313 

for the permanent support of the University of 
California. 

Local administration is accomplished by the 
division of the state into fifty-eight counties. 
These are managed by Boards of Supervisors. 
Other county officers are the sheriffs, county clerks, 
and district attorneys. Counties were later au- 
thorized to consolidate with cities under one 
government. The " City and County of San 
Francisco " is the only example of such consolida- 
tion. Counties are now (by later amendment) 
permitted to frame freeholders charters, which, if 
approved by the legislature, remove them from 
the operation of the general laws controlling 
county government. 

As was to be expected from the circumstances 
under which it was adopted, the constitution of 
1879 IS unique in its treatment of the corporation 
problem. Each stockholder of a corporation or 
joint-stock association is made individually and 
personally liable for such proportion of all its 
debts and liabilities contracted or incurred, during 
the time he was a stockholder, as the amount of 
shares owned by him bears to the whole of the out- 
standing capital stock. The directors or trustees 
are also made personally liable to the creditors and 
stockholders for all moneys embezzled or mis- 
appropriated by officers of the corporation during 
the term of office of such director or trustee. A 
corporation is forbidden to issue stock or bonds 



314 The Story of California 

except for money paid, labor done, or property 
actually received, and all fictitious increase of 
stock or indebtedness is declared void. Cumula- 
tive voting for directors is prescribed. Corpo- 
rations organized under the laws of any other 
state or country are required to comply with all 
the provisions of the California law before they 
will be allowed to do business in the state. 

Railroad corporations are the subject of spe- 
cial attention and restriction both in the original 
instrument and in later amendments. No officer 
or other agent of any such company shall be 
directly or indirectly interested in the furnishing 
of supplies to such company. No state officer 
or legislator is allowed to accept a pass or a re- 
duced rate from a railroad on pain of forfeiture 
of his office. No rate for transportation can be 
raised without the approval of the State Rail- 
road Commission. Discrimination of all kinds is 
strictly forbidden. 

Care has been taken to limit the power of the 
legislature in incurring indebtedness and the tax 
system is prescribed at length. All property was 
made taxable including mortgages. The financiers 
of the convention thought in this way to shift the 
burden of taxation for mortgage indebtedness onto 
the lender instead of the borrower. The only ef- 
fect was to raise the interest rate sufficiently to 
cover the taxes. The attempt to tax mortgages 
was abolished by amendment in 19 10. Cultivated 



The Constitution of 1879 315 

and uncultivated land, if the same quality, and 
similarly situated, is assessed at the same value. 
All taxes on real property can be paid in two an- 
nual instalments. Income taxes are authorized. A 
poll tax of two dollars is levied on each male in- 
habitant and is paid to the school fund. In 1910 
an elaborate system of taxing corporation fran- 
chises for the support of the state government, 
leaving the taxation of local property largely in 
the hands of the counties, was adopted. 

The legislature is instructed to protect by law 
the homestead and other property of all heads of 
families from forced sale. In compliance with 
this provision the home of a family, the necessary 
clothing and furniture, and the tools of a work- 
man have been exempted from sale under an exe- 
cution. 

Stringent regulations were adopted in regard to 
the Chinese. All local authorities are empowered 
to pass laws to restrict them. Corporations were 
forbidden to employ them, but this provision was 
held by the courts to be antagonistic to the United 
States constitution. No Chinese may be employed 
on any public work except in punishment for 
crime. Coolieism is declared to be a form of 
human slavery and is forbidden. The Chinese 
are also refused the right of suffrage in defiance 
of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Federal con- 
stitution. 

Miscellaneous provisions complete the docu- 



316 The Story of California 

ment. The capital is again fixed at Sacramento. 
Duelling is prohibited and anyone participating 
in a duel is deprived of the right of suffrage. Sep- 
arate property of husband and wife is established. 
Mechanics and laborers are given a lien upon 
property for their pay. The boundary of the 
state is fixed as it now exists. 

Such was the California constitution of 1879. 
Its character is very much the same as that of 
other legislation of the period. It attempted to 
be very radical and to forever establish the posi- 
tion of labor as the master of capital. If it had 
done what it tried to do it would have brought 
about a sorry condition of things in California. 
But it failed because the duty of carrying out its 
provisions fell into the hands of sane legislatures 
and courts. When the first legislature was elected 
under the new constitution there was a slight re- 
action against the radical theories which had been 
so loudly exploited. The legislature was of a 
much more conservative stamp than the conven- 
tion. The Republicans were in control. They 
held strictly to the letter of the new instrument 
and restrained the desire of the other parties to 
carry out its so-called " spirit." The statutes 
passed under it were as conservative as possible. 
Many of its more vicious provisions have been 
pruned by the state Supreme Court. 

The result has been to minimize the effect of the 
constitution upon the life of the state. It accom- 



The Constitution of 1879 317 

plished neither of the special objects of those who 
secured its adoption. Capital and labor being 
subject to a higher law than the constitution, the 
law of supply and demand, their relations were in 
no wise altered. The only effect of the attempt 
to control capital was to give the monied classes 
a fright, to win for the state a bad name through- 
out the country, and effectually to check the influx 
of capital when it was most needed for develop- 
ment. Now, after many years, capital has com- 
pletely recovered from its temporary timidity, 
and, unable to resist the temptation of high in- 
terest and a good security to be found in projects 
for the development of a new country, has re- 
turned in plenty. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

POLITICAL HISTORY SINCE 1 879 

1VTO attempt has been made to give in detail the 
* ^ political history of the state since its admis- 
sion to the Union, except in so far as it has had a 
direct bearing on the social development. A more 
sordid story than this political history would be 
hard to find. It is a pitiable repetition of ineffi- 
ciency, dishonesty, and even crime. The political 
quarrels of the time led to the killing in a duel 
under unjustifiable circumstances of David C. 
Broderick, who was a United States Senator and 
one of the strongest public men of the fifties. 
His antagonist was David S. Terry, a justice of 
the Supreme Court of California, who had become 
notorious in Vigilance Committee days. 

The legislatures of the first thirty years of the 
state's history were much alike in character. 
They had borrowed millions of dollars on the 
state's credit and used the money largely to further 
personal schemes. This was done in a manner 
which, even if it were possible under the new con- 
stitution, would not be tolerated in this day. In 
early times men were too busy with their own 
money-gettings to give this subject much atten- 

318 



Political History Since 1879 319 

tion, greatly to the profit of the politicians who 
did attend to it. 

The constitution of 1879, among other things, 
was expected to work a great reform in the con- 
duct of public officers, especially legislators. Since 
that time there has been a great improvement in 
the intolerable conditions which had previously 
existed, which is undoubtedly to be ascribed in 
larger measure to the increase of education and 
the higher character of the people than to any 
reform effected by the constitution itself. Since 
its adoption, as before, legislators have been ap- 
proached by bribe-givers and have succumbed to 
temptation. In fact it seemed at first as if mat- 
ters had gone from bad to worse, but of late years 
an aroused public watchfulness has brought about 
a great improvement. 

In the fall of 1879 the Republicans made an 
effort to redeem the state from the unnatural 
domination disclosed by the choice of thirty- 
five foreign-born delegates to sit in the constitu- 
tional convention. As a result of this effort they 
elected George C. Perkins governor by a major- 
ity of 21,000 votes. This was a startling reversal 
of the vote on the constitution, which had been 
characterised as an amplified Democratic plat- 
form. The only explanation of this change of 
front lies in a suspicion that underground forces 
were set at work to counteract the effect of the new 
organic law. 



320 The Story of California 

The first legislature went far to justify such 
suspicions. It wasted its time in useless bicker- 
ings; failed to make an apportionment, though 
this was mandatory; failed to pass an appropria- 
tion bill, to fix the taxes, or to send appointments 
to the senate for confirmation. An extra session 
was a necessity and was called by the governor. 
It did little beyond drawing its pay, and left things 
in much the same unfortunate condition in which 
it had found them. In spite of this inauspicious 
beginning, however, the Republican party has 
been able to retain its control of the legislative 
body almost continuously since that time. Only 
once have the Democrats recovered it, during the 
years from 1895-99, following the great panic of 

1893- 

The Chinese continued to furnish a constant 

subject for discussion by political orators and 
for action on the part of legislators. While the 
field of action was Washington rather than Sacra- 
mento, California was the principal actor, and 
the matter is part of the history of this state. In 
1 88 1 a new treaty was entered into between the 
United States and China by the terms of which 
it was agreed that the United States could exclude 
Chinese laborers at any time it saw fit. The fol- 
lowing year Congress took advantage of this pro- 
vision and passed a law suspending immigration 
for a period of ten years and denying to the Chi- 
nese the right of naturalization. These enact- 



Political History Since 1879 321 

ments were entirely foreign to the spirit in which 
the treaty was made, but the labor vote held the 
balance of power in California, and neither party 
could afford to lose the political support of this 
state. The result was that the spirit of the treaty 
was grossly violated, the politicians who did it 
trusting that a weak and unwarlike nation would 
submit. 

But nothing would satisfy the class in Califor- 
nia which demanded the continual harassing of the 
Orientals. In 1887 an anti-Chinese convention 
met in Sacramento. It adopted and transmitted 
to Congress a long and greatly exaggerated state- 
ment of conditions and fears on the Pacific Coast. 
This document is known as the Anti-Chinese 
Memorial. The continued agitation frustrated 
an attempt to negotiate a new treaty which would 
have been somewhat less restrictive, and as the 
ten years covered by the Act of 1882 drew to a 
close, another statute known from its sponsor, a 
California Congressman, as the Geary Act, was 
enacted. 

This act provides that it is unlawful for any 
Chinese persons except certain exempt classes, in- 
cluding merchants, students and diplomats, and 
their servants, to come or to return to the United 
States. The penalty for shipmasters bringing 
such persons is fixed at $500; for swearing falsely, 
$1,000 or a year's imprisonment, and the forfeit- 
ure of his vessel to the United States. Any Chi- 



322 The Story of California 

naman crossing the boundaries was made liable to 
arrest by any party on behalf of the United States, 
and to deportation — the penalty for violation 
being fixed at five years' imprisonment. All Chi- 
nese, whether subjects of a foreign power or not, 
are included under the law and citizenship is 
denied to all. Chinese already resident in the 
country must obtain minutely detailed certificates 
containing their photographs. 

This act was tested in the courts by the Chi- 
nese in California. Greatly to the surprise of a 
majority of the members of the bar, it was held 
by the Supreme Court of the United States to be 
constitutional. And thus finally a system of regis- 
tration was set in operation. It was the result of 
fourteen years of agitation which had crystallized 
from time to time in legislation. The beginnings 
had been mild but the progress had been toward 
greater and greater strictness until the Geary law 
was passed. Every one of the acts had been 
passed on the eve of an election and politics had 
been almost admittedly the guiding motive. 

The Geary Act was the culmination of the anti- 
Chinese excitement. From the time of its passage 
the agitation has lost force. In 1894 a treaty 
was entered into which modified the restrictions 
to some extent. Increased immigration from the 
eastern portions of this country and a broader 
outlook upon life by the Californians themselves 
has reduced the Chinese bugbear to the minor 



Political History Since 1879 323 

place in our political life which it should right- 
fully occupy. It is sometimes used by politicians 
of the lower class to draw votes from the unen- 
lightened among the laborers but it no longer 
deceives the great mass of the voters. The Japa- 
nese, Corean and East Indian immigration has 
occasionally served as an excuse for renewing 
the exclusion agitation of late years, but until this 
year it has been considered seriously by only a 
small number among the ignorant workingmen. 

The one feature of the Chinese question which 
is today deserving of public attention is the treat- 
ment accorded to educated Chinese of the classes 
exempted from restriction, by ignorant officials 
who have been entrusted with the duty of execut- 
ing the law. Many of these have been active anti- 
Chinese agitators and have stretched the law 
beyond all reason to harass individuals of the 
race they hate. Indignity and insult have been 
heaped upon travelers, scholars, merchants and 
even guests of the nation, which are a disgrace to 
our system of government. 

While the Republican and Democratic parties 
were using the Chinese and other questions to 
win votes, the real struggle during these second 
thirty years of the state's existence has been only 
nominally between these two parties. It has in 
reality been between the unorganized citizenship 
of the state and highly organized private inter- 
ests. The issues have more often than not been 



324 The Story of California 

clouded and the vital one has seldom been brought 
boldly to the front. Hidebound partisanship has 
been the order of the day and has contributed im- 
mensely to tighten the grip which corrupt politi- 
cians have been enabled to fasten upon the peo- 
ple of the state. 

The most active factor in establishing and 
maintaining this system of governmental control, 
as well as the greatest beneficiary of its working 
has been the Southern Pacific Railroad, and upon 
it has been heaped untold volumes of obloquy tor 
this activity. But it has not been alone. Asso- 
ciated with it have been all the interests in the state 
which could in any manner profit from the corrup- 
tion and control of the representatives of govern- 
ment. But because of its greater interest, and 
perhaps because of the greater respectability of 
its supporters the railroad company has received 
the lion's share of the blame as it has of the 
profits. 

This organization has come to be known as the 
" machine," a term which has been required to 
do far greater service than the circumstances de- 
mand. It will be used here to denote the political 
organization of those interests which have a 
direct personal gain to be derived from legisla- 
tion, as opposed to the general interests of the 
community at large. 

The machine in California has not by any 
means confined its attention to one of the great 



Political History Since 1879 325 

parties. Though it has in almost every instance 
acted through the Republican organization, it has 
been because that party has been dominant and not 
from any regard for its principles. The Demo- 
cratic party machinery has been as readily used 
when occasion has demanded. The machine ma- 
nipulators have amused themselves by inserting in 
the declarations of principles of both parties 
denunciations of their own activity in politics. 
These denunciations have been bolstered by requir- 
ing oaths of candidates and of officials that they 
would do various things to curtail the power of 
the machine. And the people, busy with their own 
affairs, have, with varying degrees of quietness, 
permitted the wrong. During these years Cali- 
fornia suffered the shame of being known among 
her sister states as the abject slave of the South- 
ern Pacific Railroad. 

The deepest depths of this degradation were 
reached during the notorious Schmitz-Ruef regime 
in San Francisco. Abraham Ruef was the " boss " 
of the city and had at his command all the cohorts 
of evil. He placed in the mayor's chair Eugene 
Schmitz, a musician and a violent laborite. The 
methods employed by these men in handling the 
relief fund at the time of the great earthquake 
and fire in 1906, aroused the community and they 
were later criminally prosecuted on a long list of 
indictments. After one of the most sensational 
of criminal trials in which reprehensible tactics 



326 The Story of California 

were freely used by both sides, and during the 
course of which the prosecuting attorney, Francis 
J. Heney, was shot down in the court room by a 
disqualified juror, Ruef was convicted of extor- 
tion and sent to San Quentin prison. Schmitz 
was freed on a technicality by the State Supreme 
Court. 

In 1908 began what will probably constitute 
the third great political epoch in the history of 
the state. In that year was organized the " Lin- 
coln-Roosevelt Republican League." Its avowed 
purpose was to take the political control of the 
government of the state from the servants of the 
political ringsters who had so long controlled it, 
and to put it back into the hands of the people. 
Similar organizations with similar purposes had 
been formed in the past and had died in the bloom 
of their youth, the great work of their lives yet 
undone. The reactionary press and the machine 
speakers heaped ridicule upon the new organiza- 
tion and prophesied a like fate for it. 

But they were to learn to their sorrow that this 
movement was of another stamp than its well- 
meaning predecessors. In the fall of 1908, when 
the election returns were read it was found that 
this organization had elected a majority of the 
members of each house of the legislature of 1909. 
A very small majority to be sure, but still a major- 
ity. Ridicule gave place to consternation among 
the machine leaders. But they did not forget 



Political History Since 1879 327 

themselves. What they could not obtain by ballot, 
there was still an opportunity to secure, by means 
of the political trickery they knew so well, in the 
halls of the legislature itself. 

The representatives of the new regime were 
exuberant over their victory but they did not know 
how to secure its fruits. They let the machine 
men organize both houses of the legislature trust- 
ing to their voting majority for control. All too 
soon they discovered their mistake. They found 
that all of the measures which would have secured 
the reforms which they were pledged to enact 
were subjected to innumerable delays and obstruc- 
tions. In their inexperience they did not know how 
to overcome the difficulties. Good measures were 
almost without exception smothered in commit- 
tee. Bad ones were forced upon them for atten- 
tion and some of them passed. The only per- 
manent gain was the passage of a strict and 
enforceable Anti-gambling Law. 

Again the machine leaders laughed, but their 
merriment was not to last long. The people of 
Los Angeles had placed in their charter, much 
against the wishes of the machine, a provision for 
the recall of unsatisfactory officials. The mayor 
of Los Angeles was at this time A. C. Harper, a 
typical product of the old methods in politics. An 
aroused public sentiment found him and his sup- 
porters working in conjunction with the forces of 
evil and, though but nine months of his term re- 



328 The Story of California 

mained, a recall election was called. Harper 
withdrew his name at the last moment and George 
Alexander, a Lincoln-Roosevelt League man, was 
elected to complete the term. In order that the 
machine leaders might feel the full force of the 
sentiment which had done this, Alexander was 
again elected over their candidate at the regular 
election nine months later. 

The legislature of 1909 had not been alto- 
gether a failure from the people's standpoint. It 
gave to their representatives the experience they 
needed for the legislative session of 191 1. In 
that year the Lincoln-Roosevelt League secured 
control of the machinery of the Republican party. 
It sent its leader, Hiram W. Johnson, to Sacra- 
mento as governor of California. It sent to the 
legislative halls a clear majority of experienced 
legislators pledged to carry out its reforms. 

The legislature of 191 1 is a memorable one in 
the history of the state. It has enacted into law 
and woven into the constitution principles which 
are destined to have a far larger influence upon 
the life of this commonwealth than all the radical 
innovations which were adopted with that con- 
stitution in 1879. The innovations of that instru- 
ment dealt with the relative rights of different in- 
terests in the state. In its operation the reforms 
were nullified because the methods of administra- 
tion were imperfect. But the reforms of 191 1 
were largely in the methods of procedure by 



Political History Since 1879 329 

which the great fundamental rights were to be 
secured to the people at large. Whether these 
changes are to operate for better or for worse it 
is too early to predict, but their general trend 
seems to be in the direction of the best interests 
of the whole community. 

The first duty of the new administration, it was 
urged, was to remove from office every man who 
in any way represented the old regime. This 
was effectually done. In some cases it was done 
so effectually that suspicion is aroused that the 
sinister connection has been imagined in order to 
remove an unfriendly office-holder. But such in- 
stances are few and in the main there has been 
a thorough house-cleaning. The resulting admin- 
istration of the state has for the most part made a 
clean and satisfactory beginning. 

The legislature immediately after its organiza- 
tion and the election of John D. Works of Los 
Angeles as United States Senator, amended the 
Direct Primary Law so that it provides an hon- 
est state-wide expression of the electorate of their 
preference among the candidates for that office. 
The election of state officials was also lifted out 
of the rut of partisanship by the abolishing of 
the party circle on the ballot. 

Constitutional amendments were placed before 
the people (and by them adopted) providing for 
the institution of the initiative, the referendum, 
and the recall. After a prolonged debate and 



330 The Story of California 

much opposition even among those who were 
otherwise friendly to this latter measure, it was 
finally extended to include the judiciary. 

The railroad problem was boldly dealt with. 
The railroads of the state had at an early date 
secured control of the railroad commission created 
in 1879 and through this control had enjoyed 
complete immunity from restriction in the matter 
of rate-making and service. A constitutional 
amendment was submitted (and adopted) increas- 
ing the number of commissioners from three to 
five, and making them appointive by the governor 
instead of elective. The powers of the commis- 
sion are greatly enlarged, and in addition to rail- 
roads, all kinds of public service corporations are 
placed under its control. Another important pro- 
vision is that no rate may be changed without the 
consent of the commission. 

The question of woman's suffrage is an old one 
in California. It was proposed in the constitu- 
tional convention of 1879 t0 ^ ve women the bal- 
lot but the measure did not carry. In 1882 the 
Prohibition party adopted a plank declaring for 
the extension of the suffrage to women. Various 
bills have been introduced into the legislature 
from time to time providing for this extension. 
The 191 1 session submitted the amendment to the 
people of the state and it was adopted by a large 
majority. 

Many so-called labor bills were brought to the 



Political History Since 1879 331 

attention of the 191 1 legislature. One of them, 
providing for an eight-hour working day for 
women, passed, and has been upheld by the courts. 
An anti-injunction bill was defeated. But more 
important than either in its bearing upon the pres- 
ent lack of equilibrium in the relations between 
labor and capital, is the Employer's Liability 
amendment. This authorizes the legislature to 
pass a compulsory compensation law for the bene- 
fit of employees injured by accidents in the course 
of their employment. It attempts, with what suc- 
cess still remains to be seen, to throw the burden 
of this loss not upon the individual and those de- 
pendent upon him for a living as heretofore, but 
upon the industry itself, thus distributing it ulti- 
mately among the whole mass of the people. 

Such measures were the result of the activity 
of the Lincoln-Roosevelt League. The changes 
it has brought about in the fundamental law of the 
state have been clearly in the way of progress. 
No matter what machine may in future gain con- 
trol of the state law-making body, it could not 
undo the work of the legislative session of 191 1. 
There is but one stain upon the record of that 
body. It failed to pass a bill for the reapportion- 
ment of the state, though this duty was placed upon 
it by the state constitution. This failure was due 
to the opposition of the city representatives and the 
representatives of the rural districts to each other's 
plans of apportionment. The disproportionate 



332 The Story of California 

growth of the urban centers has given rise to a 
new problem whose proper solution will be a 
difficult matter and is not yet clear. In the sum 
total of good accomplished by the 191 1 legislature 
this dereliction may well be overlooked. 

In the presidential campaign of 19 12, the 
u progressive " element in control of the Republi- 
can party in California, heartily espoused the can- 
didacy of Theodore Roosevelt. When he was 
nominated at Chicago by the Progressive party, 
Governor Johnson was named for the vice-presi- 
dency. At the election the voters of the state 
gave this ticket a majority so small that for days 
the outcome was doubtful. Some of the methods 
used by a few of the leaders of the Progressive 
Republicans during the campaign bring to mind the 
days of the old machine, and the question is an 
open one as to whether this party of reform has 
not already rendered its service and fallen into 
the hands of men who would use it for their own 
ends. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES 

* <r T^HERE may be in California, now made 
* free by its constitution — and no doubt 
there are — some tracts of valuable land." 
Daniel Webster expressed this opinion of Cali- 
fornia in the United States Senate in 1850, and in 
all probability he voiced the ideas of a great 
number of people in the eastern states at that 
time. There were also many people even in the 
West who were not at all sure that California was 
good for anything but gold-mining. But these 
who were of this way of thinking overlooked two 
things — one that the topography of the state re- 
produces the climate of every state in the Union ; 
the other that by far the greater portion of its 
soil is of such a nature that if water can be con- 
ducted onto it, it will grow anything that the cli- 
mate of the particular district calls for. The 
result is that California is in a measure able to 
reproduce the products of all the states. 

In pre-American days the chief and in fact the 
only industry was the production of hides and tal- 
low. Hundreds of thousands of cattle grazed the 
hills, receiving practically no care and worthless 
for meat, but yielding vast quantities of hides and 

333 



334 The Story of California 

tallow. These were disposed of to the American 
trading vessels. Only enough planting and cul- 
tivating was done to sustain the inhabitants. The 
mission and pueblo lands were the centers of this 
limited agricultural development, the ranches be- 
ing smaller oases in the otherwise desert country. 

Incoming foreigners began production on a 
larger scale. Sutter in 1840 started an extensive 
agricultural development in the Sacramento Val- 
ley. With the increasing difficulty of obtaining 
gold when surface mining passed, more and more 
men turned to agriculture, which promised large 
returns at the then current prices. By 1854 the 
state had become practically self-supporting so 
far as foodstuffs were concerned. This was for the 
most part in the line of staple cereals and garden 
truck. While orchards and vineyards were early 
understood to be a possibility, the rather indiffer- 
ent success at the missions with both oranges and 
grapes had discouraged any large effort in that 
direction. 

In the later fifties, however, began a wide- 
spread experimentation in what could be done in 
California. Every country in the world was levied 
upon for seeds and experience. The climatic con- 
ditions were ideal; the ground fairly level and in 
many instances ready for the plow; the farmers 
of the state boldly experimented in every direc- 
tion. It was soon discovered that wheat could be 
raised in the great interior valleys which had 



The Development of Natural Resources 335 

hitherto been condemned as arid. This discovery 
gave a tremendous impetus to agricultural devel- 
opment in all parts of the state. 

But it was found that for other products than 
the grains, water in addition to the annual rainfall 
was a necessity. This difficulty was overcome by 
irrigation. Once introduced, the use of this method 
of watering spread rapidly. It had been used in 
a small way at the missions but never much devel- 
oped. In 1 87 1 the great San Joaquin and Kings 
River canal was commenced. When finished this 
canal was seventy miles long and carried water 
to 190,000 acres of land. Many such irrigat- 
ing canals have since been built, the most noted 
system being that in the Imperial Valley which 
carries the waters of the Colorado River to thou- 
sands of acres of land. Irrigation projects are 
constantly in course of construction in all parts of 
the state. 

Irrigation is not a drawback to the land. It is 
a distinct advantage as compared with natural 
rainfall. The farmer who irrigates may occa- 
sionally be troubled by floods, but he practically 
never has to think of drought. His water supply 
is wholly under his control and he can give his 
growing crops more or less, as is required. The 
water also fertilizes and renovates the soil and 
does much to eradicate such pests as squirrels and 
grasshoppers. There are several towns in Cali- 
fornia which have been built up entirely because 



336 The Story of California 

of their location in the center of a large irrigated 
district. The city of Riverside, for instance, is 
now one of the centers of the orange production of 
the state. In 1872 there was no settlement there 
and the whole surrounding country was a barren 
waste. 

The prevalence of ditch irrigation and sinking 
wells for irrigating water has given rise to new 
problems in law which have proven very embar- 
rassing to the courts of the state. There has been 
almost endless litigation over water rights in 
nearly every large source of supply in the country. 
In trying to apply rules of law which were devel- 
oped in a country where there is a heavy rainfall 
and clearly marked streams, to a country where 
there is little rainfall and the streams run under- 
ground many difficulties have been encountered. 
Even the supreme court of the state has shown 
some hesitancy in arriving at conclusions, and the 
judges have not always remained satisfied with a 
principle even after they have enunciated it. The 
correctness of the present rulings on the subject 
is questioned by many able lawyers who have 
m^de a deep study of the matter. 
^jr The cereals are the great staple product of Cali-\ 
yr fornia. They are grown in all parts of the state \ 
under the process known as " dry-farming," with- \ 
out irrigation. Wheat and barley are the largest j 
crops. Oats is a heavy crop in the north. Corn is / 
produced in large quantities all over the state. A / 



! 



The Development of Natural Resources 337 



more recent crop is alfalfa. It has been exten- 
sively planted of late years especially in the irri- 
gated districts of the southern part of the state. 
It requires a comparatively large quantity of water 
but is an excellent food for stock. ^£— w 

Gardening became prominent during the first 
reaction from the gold excitement. The high 
prices prevalent during the early fifties led many 
into it with a consequent lowering of the price 
level. There was still a large yield, however, and 
the recent growth of the large cities has caused 
the acreage given over to truck farming to in- 
crease steadily. 

Cotton was first planted in 1865, but was con- 
fined to a small area in Merced and Kern coun- 
ties. During the last few years much experimental 
work has been done in the Imperial Valley, and 
this district gives promise of an extensive cotton 
production though it is too early as yet to predict 
its future with any degree of certainty. Tobacco 
has been tried in several parts of the state but so 
far has not obtained much of a footholcL^ugar 
beets are rapidly taking a position a s /one 51 
^"Iftfl^'^r Pr?f1l7 WB Tt V fll*^™'" The acreage 



rornia. 
planted to this vegetable is increasing rapidly 
Imany Sfl&ai 1 beeT TacTuTlw are 111 operation* 

[rapes a re amo ng the, greares 
C ali fo rma pro 

twicejJ^tTof other^coynine sy Applet 
high lands), peaches, pears and apricots are all 



338 The Story of California 

widely planted. One-half of the prune trees of 
America are in Santa Clara county. Much of the 
fruit is dried. Limes, figs, walnuts, almonds, pea- 
nuts, and olives are also common. The latter are 
grown on dry lands without irrigation. The berry 
crop is enormous. Strawberries, blackberries, 
red and black raspberries, and loganberries, (the 
latter a cross between the blackberry and the rasp- 
berry) are favorite varieties. 



s 



Oranges and lemons are byfar the best known 



crop s ot Ca iirornia.\/These fruits were hr"sT* 

planted by the missionaries, but they never met 
with much success in their cultivation. The real 
development of the modern orange industry began 
in 1873 with the introduction of two seedless 
orange trees from Brazil. From these were 
evolved the " Washington Navel " which is one 
of the all-prevalent varieties. Citrus trees, if 
properly cared for, bear for twenty or thirty 
years, and as new acreage is constantly being 
added to the existing total the production is al- 
ways on the increase. The acreage in lemons is 
slightly less than that in oranges, and the value 
per acre is about the same. Until recently, one- 
quarter of the citrus trees of the state were in 
Los Angeles county, but the constant setting out 
of trees in the San Joaquin Valley together with 
the enormous groves at Riverside and Redlands 
are rapidly lessening this proportion. * W ^*^ B ^ 
All parts of the world have been levied upon 




w 

w 



< 

o 




The Development of Natural Resources 339 

to furnish varieties of grapes, and all varieties 
flourish in California. Napa and Sonoma coun- 
ties are large producers but the south is the prin- 
cipal district. Large quantities are raised in 
Fresno and the neighboring counties and con- 
verted into raisins. One-half the grape acreage 
of the state is in wine grapes.NJ Xhe largest vine - 
yar d in the world, con sisting or 4,00 acres, 
cated at Cucamonga 111 San Bernardino county. 
Almost every kind or wine is produced somewhere ^% 
in California, and the total production is about 
three-fifths of the total for the whole United 
States. Brandies are also an important product. 
Cattle-raising was an important industry in the 
early days but later declined to an adjunct of 
ranching. Latterly the cultivation of pasture has 
been introduced and cattle are raised more and 
more for dairying instead of for their hides. 
There are still many thousand head upon the 
ranges of the more mountainous districts. Cali- 
fornia horses, while not raised in great numbers, 
are among the finest in the country. The raising 
of sheep for wool was introduced by Americans in 
1853 an d has since become an important industry. 
Hogs are raised on the tule lands of the San Joa- 
quin and Sacramento Valleys and of late years on 
the irrigated lands of the Imperial Valley, where 
they are allowed to run loose in immense fields of 
alfalfa and barley. Poultry-raising has never 
assumed a very prominent place though it is at 



340 The Story of California 

present on the increase. The principal center of 
this industry is at Petaluma. 

In the northern part of the state the production 
of lumber is an important industry. The red- 
wood and sequoia forests have furnished millions 
of feet and are being extensively cut at present 
with little or no attempt at reforestation. Other 
native growths are the Douglas fir, the sugar pine, 
and the Oregon pine. The latter is widely used 
in the construction of dwelling houses. In the 
south the planting of eucalyptus has received much 
attention in recent years. It takes from six to ten 
years to grow a tree of marketable size, and after 
cutting new trunks will spring from the same 
stump. The principal use of this wood in the past 
has been for firewood but it is now used to some 
extent for furniture and cabinet work. 

Ever since the gold days California has re- 
tained her pre-eminent position in the production 
of the precious metals. Up to the year 1910 she 
had added over two billion dollars to the worlds 
gold supply. She has also been a large producer 
of silver. All the quicksilver produced in the 
United States comes from this state and one mine 
in Oregon. Iron ore is present in large quantities 
in various parts of the state but so far has not 
been much developed because of the lack of smelt- 
ing facilities. There is a small output of copper, 
borax and salt. Coal is mined in several of the 
coast counties but not in large quantities. 



The Development of Natural Resources 341 
\/Oil promises to become the most important 

P" .j iiiii " I ""J y "' I i I ~ i j i b II *.. ~~~" 

iineral product or the state if the recent enormous 



development is condnuedy The first attempts to 
secure oil were made by Andres Pico in Pico 
Canon near Los Angeles in 1856. But the real 
growth of the industry has taken place in the last 
twenty years and in 1907 the production exceeded 
that of gold for that year. Los Angeles county 
was for many years the chief producer but is now 
giving way before Kern and Fresno counties in 
the San Joaquin Valley. California oil differs in 
general from the eastern product in that it has an 
asphaltum instead of a paraffin base. It is not 
good for illuminating, nor where rapid combustion 
is necessary as in automobile engines. It is, how- 
ever, a splendid fuel and is extensively used not 
only in the household but almost exclusively in 
locomotives and steamships. It is about forty 
per cent cheaper than coal. Its market is being 
rapidly extended to all parts of the world. The 
industry has seen a wonderful expansion in the 
last three years. At times this has been so rapid 
that there have not been sufficient transportation 
facilities to carry the product to market. This 
problem is being solved by the construction of 
huge pipe-lines from the wells to tidewater. 

Manufacturing development has been much 
hampered by the scarcity of raw materials and 
the extremely high cost of labor. Fuel has also 
been difficult to obtain in the past but the recent 



342 The Story of California 

development of petroleum and the utilization of 
water power for the generation of electricity have 
overcome this obstacle. 

The first manufacturing enterprises arose from 
the need of repairs to machinery and equipment 
during the mining days. Special needs at the 
mines developed local industries and the general 
growth of the country led to the establishment of 
larger manufactories in and about San Francisco. 
The large production of wheat has resulted in the 
erection of mills, which export most of their prod- 
uct. The Civil War gave an added impulse to 
California manufactures. It caused a large im- 
migration to the Pacific Coast and influenced many 
people to remain here who otherwise would have 
returned to the East. By cutting off other sources 
of supply it greatly increased the demand for local 
products. This new impulse centered in San 
Francisco and gave that city a lead in manufac- 
tures which it has since maintained. One of her 
shipyards has constructed eight vessels for the 
United States navy. 

The present outlook for manufacturers is of the 
brightest. The rapidly increasing population is 
creating a large home market. To this is added 
the force of the local sentiment in favor of using 
home products wherever possible. The large 
acreage which has within the last few years been 
planted to eucalyptus promises to remedy in time 
the lack of hard and elastic woods. The " home- 



The Development of Natural Resources 343 

seeker " immigration is bringing in more and more 
laborers. To these will be added great numbers 
of immigrants from Europe when the Panama 
Canal is opened. With more and cheaper labor, 
and a large and growing home market, the manu- 
factures of California will soon surpass in value 
both the mineral and agricultural products. 

The first foreign commerce of California was 
represented by the supply ships from Mexico. 
After these came the trading and smuggling ves- 
sels, and barter with the Russians in the north. 
The gold rush with its high prices became a mag- 
net for the surplus goods of the entire world. 
Anything was considered good enough to send 
to California. Hundreds of vessels sailed into 
San Francisco harbor with absurd and unusable 
cargoes which were left to rot on the wharves. 
Many of the ships were never even unloaded for 
they were without a single deckhand within a few 
hours after arriving. The high prices sent up the 
cost of doing business to almost prohibitive fig- 
ures. The few warehouses were quickly filled. 
Auction sales were the only remedy, and goods 
sold for little or nothing in huge quantities. The 
result was failure after failure which brought on 
a widespread commercial panic. 

The gold rush of course practically put an end 
to what little export trade there was for the time 
being. The vast herds of cattle which had for- 
merly been raised for their hides and tallow only, 



344 The Story of California 

suddenly became extremely valuable for their 
meagre supply of meat. California was wholly 
unable to support the enormous numbers of new- 
comers and great quantities of foodstuffs were 
imported for several years. Most of the imports 
came by sea. The completion of the Central 
Pacific or other railroads has never decreased the 
volume of this traffic. The increase in population 
has been sufficient to keep it on the increase. 

At present, beside being connected with the 
eastern states by four transcontinental lines, Cali- 
fornia receives at her ports the ships of regular 
lines of steamers from Alaska, Japan, China, the 
Philippines, the Hawaiian Islands, Mexico, and 
Central and South America. The opening of the 
Panama Canal will add lines of steamers to At- 
lantic ports and to Europe to those already in 
operation. A fifth transcontinental railroad is 
being constructed across the state from San Diego 
and another across the central portion of the 
state is projected. Aside from the many local 
steam lines, the districts surrounding the large 
cities are served in every direction by networks 
of electric railroads which are among the most 
extensive in the country. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

SOCIAL PROGRESS 

SINCE the gold days the principal immigrants 
to California have been Americans drawn by 
the possibilities of the soil. These men were of 
as strong fibre and of better character than the 
average of the gold days. The type of immigrant 
has steadily improved, bringing an added element 
of culture and refinement. 

The state also began to acquire fame as a place 
to live. At first this brought many tourists to 
California, people who were fleeing to escape the 
rigors of the eastern winters in the milder tem- 
peratures of this state. The comparatively warm 
winters, especially in the southern part of the 
state which became the goal of these travelers, 
gave rise to a general belief among these very 
people that the summers must be intolerably hot. 
Within the last decade this erroneous belief has 
been eradicated and the climate, added to the 
many other attractions of the life of the Pacific 
Coast, is now drawing to California many thou- 
sands every year to make it their home. 

The newcomers thus drawn to the state are 
many of them of moderate or even large wealth 
and they bring with them the culture and refine- 

345 



346 The Story of California 

ment of their eastern homes. California cities 
are rapidly becoming stamped with the impress 
of eastern life. The education and intelligence 
of the mass of the population is far higher than 
the average for the country as a whole because 
of this select immigration. The desire for wider 
and deeper mental attainment is becoming wide- 
spread. 

Of course such a development would have been 
impossible without the accompanying change in 
the social atmosphere. We have seen the dis- 
graceful lack of order which prevailed during the 
gold days, caused by conditions unique in the his- 
tory of the world. The riots of 1877 were due 
to special impelling causes. Nevertheless it took 
many years for San Francisco to achieve a state 
of security because it was the center of attraction 
for all the vicious elements on the coast and even 
far into the interior. 

The other cities in the state, possibly because of 
their smaller size, have been more successful in 
this respect than San Francisco. Los Angeles in 
particular has been free from labor troubles. 
This has been largely due to the broad-minded 
policy of employers in that city combined with 
their determination to hold in check the lawless 
element which is the disgrace of labor unionism. 
Although workmen in Los Angeles receive wages 
in many cases higher than the union scale, and 
never lower, and work under the best possible con- 



Social Progress 347 

ditions, and are in the main contented and satis- 
fied with their lot, the independence of the em- 
ployers and the freedom of the city from the 
abuses of union domination have been a constant 
source of irritation to the more violent of the 
labor leaders of the country. 

The result has been that frequent attacks have 
been made upon the industrial independence of the 
city by agitators from the outside. Men have at 
various times been poured into the city for the 
express purpose of fomenting and encouraging 
strikes and riot. The worst experience of this 
kind which the city has undergone culminated on 
October I, 1910, in the dynamiting of the build- 
ing of the Los Angeles Times, a newspaper which 
had long been in the foremost ranks of the op- 
ponents of labor-unionism. The plant was to- 
tally destroyed and twenty-one employes killed. 
Two brothers, J. B. McNamara, and J. J. Mc- 
Namara, were placed on trial for the murder of 
these men. During the course of the trial both 
men confessed their connection with the crime 
and were sent to San Quentin prison. 

San Diego has recently been the unfortunate 
center of another type of agitation. Like most 
large cities she has an ordinance forbidding public 
speaking in the center of the business section. 
Representatives of the Industrial Workers of the 
World, an anarchistic organization, attempted to 
use the streets in spite of this ordinance. The 



348 The Story of California 

police interfered and the agitators immediately 
raised the cry that the freedom of speech guar- 
anteed to them by the Constitution (which they 
were trying to overthrow) was being denied. A 
call was sent forth and many men claiming to be 
members of the order set out for San Diego with 
the avowed intention of having themselves ar- 
rested and filling the jails and crowding the courts 
until the machinery of justice must stop. Some 
over-zealous citizens, fearing that the police would 
be unable to handle the situation, formed a " vigi- 
lance committee " to protect the city from the 
threatened plague. Many of the agitators were 
roughly handled and the attempt to overwhelm 
the city failed. 

But these demonstrations of recent years are 
the result of no conditions peculiar to California. 
They are sporadic effects of the nation-wide ef- 
fort of certain agitators to stir up the lowest 
classes of the people to violence and anarchy. It 
is even more than nation wide; it is world wide. 
The leading nations of Europe are having to con- 
tend with it in the form of syndicalism, sabotage, 
and under other names. While the principal inci- 
dents in connection with the movement in Cali- 
fornia have been of a striking character, and have 
occasioned much newspaper comment, these inci- 
dents have entered little into the life of the aver- 
age citizen. They are as a rule accompanied 
with little rioting and few acts of rowdyism. 



Social Progress 349 

Turning from these few but notorious incidents 
in the later life of the state, all is found to be in 
the course of progress and advancement. In mat- 
ters religious, California has retained nothing of 
the atmosphere of her earlier years. She has now 
few traces of either the religious domination of the 
pre-American days or of the godless atheism of the 
gold days. The Roman Catholic church continued 
to minister to the native born population after the 
conquest but for many years after the gold dis- 
covery religion was a minor consideration in the 
general life of the community. With the coming 
of the later waves of immigration, however, relig- 
ion has quietly assumed its normal place in the 
life of the people and several cities of California 
are noted for their large church attendance. 

In educational matters California has made 
the greatest strides. In her first constitution she 
provided for a system of common schools and 
preliminary steps were taken for the establishment 
of a state university. In 1868 the act creating the 
University of California was passed by the legis- 
lature and signed by the governor. This newly 
created body accepted the gift of the College of 
California which had been founded at Oakland in 
1853 by Rev. Henry Durant, and had later moved 
to a beautiful location at Berkeley. This College 
became the College of Letters in the University 
and other colleges have been added from time to 
time until there are at present fifteen. A Board 



350 The Story of California 

of Regents is the governing body of the University 
and it is supported by the income from a number 
of special funds created by gifts of land from 
Congress and the state legislature. Many educa- 
tors of national fame have taken part in the 
development of California's leading educational 
institution. Among these are such men as Daniel 
Coit Gilman, at one time its president, Joseph 
LeConte, and the present president, Benjamin 
Ide Wheeler. There are now over four thousand 
students in attendance at the various colleges of 
the University. 

California is fortunate in having within her 
borders two universities of the first rank. In 
1885 the Leland Stanford Junior University was 
founded by Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane 
Lathrop Stanford, in memory of their son. Like 
the state university it is open to members of both 
sexes. ^Stanford University is one of the wealthi- 
est educational institutions in the world, having an 
[ endowment ot ovel 1 I'WClliy lllJ llDJlS | O I dollarsT */ 
two tho ^iAand^yHpnj-R a re in attenaanee.^ ^S 

Beside these two great universities in the north- 
ern part of the state there are many smaller insti- 
tutions especially in the south which are doing 
work of a high order. The University of South- 
ern California was founded in Los Angeles in 
1879 an d now has nine colleges, and nearly two 
thousand students. The trustees are elected by the 
Southern California Annual Conference of the 



Social Progress 351 

Methodist Episcopal Church. Occidental Col- 
lege is also located in Los Angeles. It was 
founded in 1887 under the auspices of the Pres- 
byterian Church. Its student body numbers about 
four hundred. Throop Polytechnic Institute was 
founded at Pasadena in 1891, by Amos G. 
Throop. Its activities are devoted to instruction 
in the higher branches of electrical, mechanical, 
and civil engineering. Its student body is quite 
small but its standard of work very high. About 
forty miles out of Los Angeles at Clare- 
mont is located Pomona College. This college 
was founded in 1888 under the direction of the 
Congregational Church. It has grown to be an 
excellent institution of nearly five hundred stu- 
dents. To these smaller educational centers there 
has been added as late as 1909 the University of 
Redlands at that city. This new institution is 
fostered by the Baptists of California and, with 
three colleges, has already a student enrollment 
of about two hundred. 

In connection with these institutions for gen- 
eral educational purposes must be mentioned the 
Lick Observatory at Mount Hamilton, the foun- 
dation of James Lick; and the Carnegie Astro- 
Physical Observatory at Mount Wilson endowed 
by Andrew Carnegie. These are two of the great- 
est observatories in the United States and their 
work is closely watched by scientists all over the 
world. 



352 The Story of California 

California's literary history, like her political 
and social history, has pursued its course more or 
less independent of the rest of the country. The 
first California literature consisted of books of 
travel by almost every stranger who visited the 
Pacific Coast. The principal characteristic of 
most of these works is their exaggeration. The 
first local literary efforts were in newspaper work. 
The first paper was published at Monterey by 
Robert Semple and William Colton in 1846, im- 
mediately after the conquest. The Californian 
as it was called was somewhat hampered by the 
lack of " w "s in the alphabet, which had been 
brought in by the Spanish. The attempt to over- 
come this difficulty by the use of two " v "s gives 
some of the words an odd appearance. The Cali- 
fornia Star was established at San Francisco in 
1847 D Y Samuel Brannan. In 1849 these two 
papers were combined to form the Alta California 
which was the great paper of San Francisco dur- 
ing the gold days, and whose files contain much of 
the vital history of the state. 

The picturesque life of the mining days fur- 
nished material for the next epoch of California 
literature. This epoch was a prolific one and the 
tales of the gold camps which were disseminated 
in this way are marvelous to hear. The picture 
they have left of those stirring times is no less 
exaggerated than the early (and even some of the 
more recent) descriptions of California. The 



Social Progress 353 

people of the mines were common people from all 
parts of the world. The life of the mines may 
have had its effect on their character, but the 
dialect and actions imputed to them by some wri- 
ters are impossible. 

The next epoch, if it can be so called, took as 
its subject matter the life of the Hispano-Califor- 
nians. The picturesque romances of those days 
have become favorite themes for many charming 
stories from numerous pens. These, except for 
their idealizing of the conditions which existed at 
that time, have the merit of being more accurate 
in their description of the life of the period. To 
this epoch, though it deals with the sad end of 
Hispano-California, may be assigned what is 
probably the most widely read of all books about 
California, Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona. 

Recent California literature has become both 
broader and deeper than heretofore. Books of 
more serious import are appearing. Valuable 
works of historical and philosophical importance 
are being published from time to time by Cali- 
fornia authors. The state is also the home of 
several colonies of prominent authors of fiction 
and lighter sociological works. 

In art and music, too, much is being done of re- 
cent years. Painters have found that the coasts 
and mountains of California furnish subjects in 
never ending variety. The mission ruins and the 
life of the southwest Indians have also been 



354 The Story of California 

favorite subjects. In music much the same cul- 
ture is found that prevails in eastern cities. San 
Francisco and Los Angeles have their grand 
opera seasons, and symphony orchestras and 
choral clubs fill out the musical year. 

While California must of necessity, because of 
her youth, lack much of the completeness in small 
details of her eastern sisters, of her great achieve- 
ments she may be justly proud. Her keynote is 
vastness, and in describing her characteristics it 
is constantly necessary to employ the superlative. 
The doing well of the large things must in time 
accomplish the doing thoroughly of the smaller 
things. 



CHAPTER XXX 

THE GROWTH OF THE CITIES 

A/T ORE than one half of the people of Califor- 
* * * nia live in the cities about San Francisco 
Bay, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento. 
While the development of the agricultural dis- 
tricts of the state has been phenomenal, the great- 
est growth in population during the last three dec- 
ades of tremendous advancement has been in 
these centers. This may be ascribed in part to 
the tendency toward city life which is perceptible 
all over the country but in greater measure to the 
development of California's commercial side as 
distinguished from the increase of production. 
In order to understand the California of today 
it is desirable therefore to review the growth of 
the cities. 

There are a number of smaller cities which are 
worthy of mention but to which much space can- 
not be given here. El Centro is the growing cen- 
ter of the great Imperial Valley on the southeast. 
Riverside and Redlands are located in the south- 
ern orange-growing districts. San Bernardino is 
a large interior railroad center. Pasadena is one 
of the most beautiful residence cities in the world. 
Bakersfield, the largest city in the great oilfields 

355 



356 The Story of California 

of the San Joaquin Valley, is one of the busiest 
cities in the state. Fresno is the center of a vast 
fertile agricultural area. Stockton and Marys- 
ville are the interior distributing centers for the 
river traffic of California's two great rivers. San 
Jose is the commercial center of the beautiful and 
exceedingly fertile Santa Clara Valley. Eureka, 
on Humboldt Bay in the northern part of the 
state is one of the largest lumber shipping ports 
in the world. 

The neighborhood of Sacramento, now the 
capital of the state, was an important place in Cali- 
fornia even in pre-American days. Sutter's Fort 
was the rendezvous for thousands of immigrants 
to the state. But its atmosphere was that of a 
rural trading center. The gold discovery made 
it for a time the focus of the attention of the 
world and the busiest place in California. Two 
new towns, Sacramento and Sutterville, were 
started in the immediate neighborhood because of 
disagreements between Sutter and his son and 
neighbors. Each of the three places struggled for 
the supremacy for several years, Sacramento 
finally winning it. The river traffic increased. 
Regular service was established in August, 1849. 
By May of 1850 there were eighty-five sea going 
vessels moored in the stream off Sacramento's 
wharves. The new town had begun to grow. 
But before it became a great city it must have its 
baptism of suffering. Soon after it was founded 



The Growth of the Cities 357 

cholera took a terrible toll from the number of its 
inhabitants. 

Floods have always been Sacramento's great- 
est scourge. The first one occurred in the 
winter of 1849-50. Four-fifths of the city lay 
under water and boats were the only means of 
transportation on many of the streets. To meet 
and guard against a recurrence of this disaster 
a levee was built. While this ameliorated con- 
ditions to a great extent it was not sufficient to 
prevent a repetition of large losses from floods in 
1852, 1853 and 1 861. Fire also did its part in 
retarding the building of the city. In 1852 over 
five million dollars worth of property was de- 
stroyed by this means. Sacramento profited by her 
experience, however, and took effectual measures 
to prevent the recurrence of losses from this cause. 

The city also had its social disturbances. Un- 
principled men stirred up squatter riots, alleging 
a flaw in Sutter's title to the land. These were 
soon put down, but the disorder and the floods 
brought on a commercial depression which re- 
sulted in more rioting and disorder. Sacramento 
had its Vigilance Committee in 1851 and two 
murderers were hanged. In 1854 a Chinese war 
occurred which marked the beginning of the more 
violent outbreaks against the unfortunate mem- 
bers of that race. This was followed by an era 
of political corruption similar to that which raged 
in San Francisco in the fifties, 



358 The Story of California 

After much perambulating the state capital 
finally came to Sacramento to make its permanent 
home in 1854. The capitol building was com- 
pleted in 1869. About the same time the great 
railroad shops were located at the capital and 
these two acquisitions gave a permanent stability 
to the city. It is the main distributing center for 
the great interior valleys and has grown steadily, 
but has not taken part in the recent phenomenal 
increase in population which has distinguished the 
other urban centers of the state. 

San Diego was the first settlement in California. 
After the conquest its population dwindled; it 
lost its charter in 1852, and in 1867 had but a 
dozen inhabitants. In that year A. E. Horton, a 
land promotor, laid out a new city about three 
miles south of the old one. Within three years 
the population had grown to 2,300, and in 1872 
the city was reincorporated. The next year it 
was made a port of entry. This prosperity was 
as short lived as it was sudden, however, and was 
followed by a crash from which it took the city 
ten years to recover. In 1884 the Santa Fe rail- 
road system reached the port and since then there 
has been good progress. During the last ten 
years San Diego has kept pace with Los Angeles 
and San Francisco in her rate of growth. 

The harbor of San Diego is a beautiful one and 
next to that of San Francisco is the best natural 
harbor on the California coast. It has an area 



The Growth of the Cities 359 

of about twenty-two square miles. The United 
States has spent upwards of a million dollars in 
harbor improvements. It is both a naval and 
military depot. The commercial prosperity of 
the city is based not only on its harbor facilities 
but also upon the citrus and grape production of 
its back country, and the manufacture and dis- 
tribution of lumber. The Panama-California Ex- 
position is to be held at San Diego during 19 15, 
contemporaneously with the Panama-Pacific Ex- 
position at San Francisco. 

Until the discovery of gold in 1848, the history 
of Los Angeles was the history of California. 
When the lure of gold brought thousands of peo- 
ple to the northern parts of the state, the southern 
part was affected only slightly. There was no 
gold in that region, and from the fact that the 
Mexicans were not engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits, the Americans concluded that the dry look- 
ing lands of the south were not fit for cultivation. 
So Los Angeles, the center of this district, experi- 
enced very little activity during the next thirty 
years and until 1880 remained a Spanish- Amer- 
ican town. During the first twenty of these thirty 
years it was probably the toughest town in the 
United States. The activity of vigilance commit- 
tees formed of Americans in the northern cities 
drove many desperate characters to Los Angeles 
where the idle and shiftless Mexican population 
were more inclined to brawl with them than to 



360 The Story of California 

make any determined effort to rid the town of their 
presence. The massacre of nineteen Chinamen in 
one evening already referred to was the culmina- 
tion of this era of crime, the record of which is 
even blacker than San Francisco's. 

The year 1880 marks the beginning of the 
growth of the present city. The Southern Pac- 
ific Railway from San Francisco was completed 
in 1876, after it had received a donation of $610,- 
000 and sixty acres of land for a terminal from the 
city as a bonus. The arrival of the road gave a 
great impetus to the growth of the city. At the 
same time the agricultural possibilities of the sur- 
rounding land were beginning to be appreciated. 
This led to increased development of the back 
country, and when the Santa Fe Railroad was com- 
pleted and began operating in 1885, there ensued 
the great boom of Los Angeles. This lasted for 
three years during which the city experienced a 
phenomenal activity in all lines. While the boom 
features disappeared in 1888 the city did not suf- 
fer from any stagnation and financial break such 
as usually follows a boom period, but continued 
a large and steady growth. 

This growth has continued in ever increasing 
proportions until the present day, and the end is 
not yet in sight. The population of the city has 
increased from about twelve thousand in 1880 to 
nearly half a million in 19 12, and in every phase 
the physical appearance and the commercial life 



The Growth of the Cities 361 

of the city have kept pace with its population. 
The amount of building in Los Angeles is reg- 
ularly exceeded by only two or three cities in the 
United States. There are no slums, and avenues 
of homes reach for miles in every direction from 
the business center. Los Angeles is surrounded by 
a group of smaller cities and beach towns whose 
life is intimately connected with that of the com- 
mercial center. 

* Fearing a water famine, if the tremendous in- 
crease in population continued, Los Angeles in 
; 1907 voted a bond issue of $23,000,000 to con- 
struct an aqueduct to bring the waters of Owens 
River in < *» *"fih ^117** nf Tnv p county to the 
gates lot the city, a distance of 209 miles. This 
enormous undertaking has been carried on entirely 
by the city and so far has been a model of effi- 
cient management. Many records have been 
broken in its construction and it is expected that 
it will be completed before the estimated time. 
It will furnish the city with sufficient water for a 
population of two million or more people. 

Another great undertaking of the people of 
Los Angeles is the development of a harbor. 
Not blessed with such natural facilities as have 
made San Francisco and San Diego famous, Los 
Angeles has undertaken the improvement of the 
opportunities which she has on a scale sufficiently 
grand to rival these two great natural ports with 
an artificial one. San Pedro, the site of this har- 



362 The Story of California 

bor, first began to be used regularly as a port in 
the decade 1 820-1 830. Much country produce 
was shipped here, and there were even small at- 
tempts at ship-building as early as 183 1. In the 
forties San Pedro was considered one of the 
three principal seaports of California, the others 
being San Diego and Monterey. Abel Stearns, an 
American, had a warehouse at San Pedro and was 
several times accused of smuggling. As that was 
the only way in which one could trade in those days 
there is little doubt but that the charges were true. 
He was the principal trader of early San Pedro 
if not of Los Angeles. 

This early trade came to San Pedro in spite 
of the recognized disadvantages of that place as 
a harbor. These disadvantages have now been 
largely eliminated. The outer harbor is pro- 
tected by a breakwater nearly two miles in length, 
which was erected by the Federal government at 
an expense of over $3,000,000. This creates a 
protected area of 575 acres. The wharfage is in 
the inner harbor at Wilmington. Both the Fed- 
eral government and the city of Los Angeles (of 
which both San Pedro and Wilmington have been 
a part since 19 10) are engaged in improving this 
portion of the harbor. The government has al- 
ready spent $2,000,000 here, and the city is 
pledged to spend $10,000,000 more. The total 
frontage when completed will be about forty-seven 
miles. This great artificial harbor which will be- 



The Growth of the Cities 363 

come the center of greatly increased commercial 
activity with the opening of the Panama Canal, is 
already the largest lumber port in the world. 

San Francisco has so far retained her position 
won in the days of gold as the metropolis of the 
Pacific Coast. In Spanish and Mexican times 
San Francisco Mission and Yerba Buena were 
among the least important places in California. 
San Rafael Mission was originally planned as a 
new home for the entire colony. Some ships oc- 
casionally entered the harbor, but Monterey was 
the port of the north and the commerce of San 
Francisco was small indeed. Yerba Buena in 1840 
contained only about a half-dozen houses. Los 
Angeles at that time had about 1,800 inhabitants. 
La Place described Yerba Buena as " nothing but 
fogs, fleas, wind, and sterility." Five years later 
the village had acquired about twenty houses and 
about 125 inhabitants. Her commerce was begin- 
ning to grow on a small scale but no one ever 
thought of her as the equal of Monterey, San 
Pedro, or San Diego. 

By 1846, however, Yerba Buena had begun 
to foreshadow its future greatness as a commer- 
cial metropolis. The Americans who were coming 
into the country recognized what the Spaniards and 
Mexicans never realized, that the bay was one of 
the greatest harbors in the world. Many of the 
newcomers settled there. It was more American 
in its atmosphere than any other place in Cali- 



364 The Story of California 

fornia at that time. In 1847 a city was founded 
across the bay and christened Francesco. The 
new spirit in Yerba Buena, quick to see the advan- 
tage of the name in connection with that of the 
bay, changed the name of the old Mexican village 
to San Francisco. This was done by decree of the 
alcalde. Francesco later became Benicia. 

With the announcement to the world of the 
discovery of gold in California began San Fran- 
cisco's wonderful growth and her days of trial. 
She was the chief gateway to the mines, and the 
thousands of gold-seekers from all parts of the 
world surged into the little struggling village of 
a thousand people. Naturally the accommodations 
offered to these uninvited guests were somewhat 
questionable in character. Any shed was good 
enough for a lodging house. The sides were 
lined with bunks and the tenant furnished his own 
bedclothes. But even these inhospitable quarters 
were comfortable in comparison with what most 
of the new arrivals had endured on shipboard. 

The prices of city lots which could serve as the 
location for any kind of a hostelry or house of 
entertainment soared to unbelievable figures. 
Auction sales assisted in this elevation of values. 
But few if any of the buyers yet realized that 
there was any permanent greatness in store for 
San Francisco. They merely bought to seize the 
profit of the moment in erecting the cheapest of 
buildings for the accommodation of the gold seek- 



The Growth of the Cities 365 

ers. Everything about the city was done in a 
flimsy and temporary manner. Streets were un- 
paved and even ungraded. There were no side- 
walks and the mud was so deep in the winter of 
1849 tnat man Y animals were left to their fate and 
even human bodies were afterward found in the 
mire. 

Dwellings were mere shells, often of canvas, 
rubber, or even cotton cloth. The business build- 
ings were of wood and of such construction as 
made them an easy prey to fire. A fire once 
started, there was no way to stop its progress, and 
there were no doubt men in the city who were 
entirely willing to start one in the hope of profit- 
ing by the confusion. At any rate it was not long 
before one occurred. The day before Christmas 
in 1849 tne "First Great Fire " swept down 
Kearny and Washington Streets, destroying prop- 
erty valued at $500,000. 

The houses were restored, but in the same 
flimsy and inflammable manner as before, and less 
than five months after the first fire, May 4, 1850, 
a second swept away the business portion of the 
city with a loss of $3,000,000. The third fire 
followed in less than six weeks leaving a second 
loss of $3,000,000. This time it was more 
serious for it attacked the residence portion of 
the city and thousands were left homeless. This 
catastrophe awakened the people of the city to 
a realization of the necessity of preventing the 



366 The Story of California 

recurrence of such losses. Many improvements 
were attempted but they made headway very 
slowly at first. Cloth houses and tents were pro- 
hibited within the fire limits. Redwood was used 
in its place. Attempts were made to fill the ditches 
and grade the streets. Houses were propped up 
on the high embankments left by the grading. 
September 17, 1850, the fourth great fire oc- 
curred. The loss this time was not so great as 
in the two previous fires. It hastened the work 
of improvement but it was not completed in time 
to prevent the fifth great fire, May 4, 1851. 
This burned out the heart of the city, destroying 
a thousand houses and many lives. The property 
loss was in the neighborhood of $10,000,000. 
The number of lives lost is unknown. 

The work of improvement went on, but one 
more fire was to help impress the inhabitants of 
the city with the need of more substantial materials 
for building construction. This occurred June 22, 
1 85 1. After that buildings of brick and granite 
began to make their appearance, and San Fran- 
cisco until 1906 was able to confine fires to small 
areas as other cities have generally succeeded in 
doing. Only the wealth from the mines enabled 
the city to withstand these repeated blows. The 
rumors of incendiary origin of these fires was one 
of the things which led to the formation of the 
Vigilance Committee of 1851. 

To add to the burdens of the suffering city 



The Growth of the Cities 367 

crooked politics early began to show its head. As 
early as the winter of 1848-49 two councils, both 
claiming to be legitimate, struggled for supremacy. 
The dispute lasted for six months while the state 
itself had no government and the dissension op- 
ened wide the door to lawlessness. The riff-raff 
of the New York Volunteers and other kindred 
spirits formed a society for the advancement of 
crime under the name of the " Hounds," which 
was afterwards euphemized to " Regulators." 
The headquarters of this organization was a 
tent bearing the significant name of " Tammany 
Hall." 

The drinking and brawling among this idle lot 
of vagabonds and desperadoes led to insufferable 
political corruption, race riots, and unbridled 
crime. The manner in which a city council, ow- 
ing its place largely to such influences as these, 
squandered the city's money is almost unbeliev- 
able. As the culmination of their breach of trust 
they voted to each alderman a salary of $6,000 
and to the mayor $10,000 and paid it. The man- 
ner in which the decent citizens of the community, 
no longer able to bear with such crime and cor- 
ruption, arose, formed themselves together in the 
extra-legal body known as the Vigilance Commit- 
tee, and wrested the city from the control of the 
bandits has already been described. 

After the disturbances caused by the Kearney 
riots of 1877, San Francisco settled down to a 



368 The Story of California 

steady growth in commerce and in construction 
which was accompanied by nothing more exciting 
than the ordinary municipal routine. Her splen- 
did bay, containing 420 square miles of land-locked 
water, affords anchorage sufficient for the navies 
of the world. The waterfront has been improved 
and developed by the state and is under the con- 
trol of Harbor Commissioners appointed by the 
governor. The other harbors in the state have 
been built by the cities themselves. In 1894 the 
California Midwinter International Exposition 
was held in Golden Gate Park. The acquisition 
of the Philippine Islands in 1898 opened to San 
Francisco a new outlook upon the growing trade 
of the Pacific and the commerce of the Orient. 
She rapidly took advantage of her opportunity, 
and her prosperity and happiness were known in 
all quarters of the globe. 

" God help the city if any great catastrophe 
of this nature [earthquake] should ever take 
place! Her huge granite and brick palaces, of 
four, five, and six stories in height, would indeed 
make a prodigious crash, more ruinous both to 
life and property than even the dreadful fires of 
1849, J 850 and 1851. This is the greatest, if not 
the only possible obstacle of consequence to the 
growing prosperity of the city, though even such 
a lamentable event as the total destruction of half 
the place like another Quito or Caracas would 
speedily be remedied by the indomitable energy 



The Growth of the Cities 369 

and persevering industry of the American char- 
acter." This paragraph appears in the Annals of 
San Francisco published in 1855. What a 
prophecy ! 

While the city was on the very crest of its great 
wave of prosperity and happiness, came the great 
earthquake which laid her pride in the dust. At 
thirteen minutes after five o'clock on the morning 
of Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the inhabitants of 
the city were awakened from their sleep by the 
ominous rumble which heralds the earthquake. 
Those who had lived in San Francisco or other 
parts of California for any period of time thought 
nothing of it at first. They had experienced many 
temblors and they held no more of terror for 
them than the thunderstorm holds for the aver- 
age citizen of the eastern states. But it was soon 
seen that this was no slight temblor. Houses 
tumbled, buildings fell, screams of men and women 
in agony rent the air, and it took but a few min- 
utes for all to realize that a great catastrophe 
was upon them. 

Those who remained unhurt turned at once to 
the work of rescue but they had hardly begun 
when the cry of " Fire ! " spread through the city. 
Here was a new foe which must be fought. Calls 
came in from all parts of the city and every fire 
company in the department hastened in response. 
But all too soon the terrible truth was learned. 
The earthquake had destroyed the water mains 



370 The Story of California 

and there was no water with which to fight the 
fast spreading flames. 

Sullenly and doggedly the people retired be- 
fore this foe which could not be fought. Taking 
what of their worldly goods was most precious, 
they sought the neighboring hills and silently 
watched their fair city go down in ruin before the 
advancing flames. For three days the city was 
a mass of fire and long after it had burnt out 
was too hot to be entered. Practically the entire 
business section and many adjacent districts were 
destroyed. The total property loss approached 
five hundred million dollars, the greatest catas- 
trophe of its kind in history. 

But it was not the money loss which was first 
to be considered. Over two hundred thousand 
people were homeless. These camped in the parks 
and the military reservations, where conditions 
soon became indescribable. There were no sani- 
tary arrangements for this vast horde, and disease 
and plague would have followed fast on the heels 
of earthquake and fire. The towns immediately 
surrounding were as helpless as the metropolis. 
From these no aid could be expected. But from 
the more remote parts of the state at first and 
later from all parts of the country, relief trains 
were sent in. Food, clothing, shelters, medicines 
and dressings, were supplied with a lavish hand 
by a sympathetic people. The terrible situation 
was relieved and the suffering alleviated. This 




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The Growth of the Cities 371 

done, the question immediately followed, " What 
of the future? " 

Before the answer to this question is read, how- 
ever, the nature of this great earthquake deserves 
consideration. Beside the frequent temblors which 
are merely the subject of passing remark by the 
people of California, there have been four earth- 
quakes previous to that of 1906 which have proved 
destructive to life and property in the state. 
These occurred in 1812, 1839, 1865, and in 
1 868. The latter caused five deaths and destroyed 
several old houses. 

The earthquake of 1906 was not volcanic, but 
was due to the giving way of the crust of the 
earth under the strain of too great pressure. The 
rift began in the sea off Cape Mendocino. It 
entered the land just above Punta Arena and 
followed the shore line to Chittenden on the Pa- 
jaro River. The vertical shift in position of the 
earth on opposite sides of this rift averaged three 
to four feet for this entire distance of nearly two 
hundred miles. The horizontal shift was from 
eight to fifteen feet. The destructive power ex- 
hibited along the exact line of the fault was tre- 
mendous. The greater the distance from this line, 
the less noticeable the effect. The fault line 
crossed the city of San Francisco and in the soft 
sandy soil of that region the earthquake's power 
was at its height. 

What this power could do as against the works 



372 The Story of California 

of man's hand it took but a few minutes to demon- 
strate. Five hundred and fourteen city blocks lay 
in ruins and the prey of the flames. Three thou- 
sand acres of ground in the center of the city were 
a mass of red-hot bricks and twisted steel. Twen- 
ty-eight thousand buildings crashed to the ground 
or were brought down by the flames. About half 
of these were commercial buildings; the remainder 
were dwellings. 

" What of the future? " Many of those who 
read of the frightful destruction shook their heads 
and sadly prophesied that San Francisco would 
never again rise from her ruins. But the San 
Franciscan who gazed upon the smouldering 
wreck of his city, then and there made up his mind. 
The city must be rebuilt. He would not desert. 
Even in the midst of shock and flame, the San 
Franciscans could be heard calling each other's 
attention to features of the old city which must 
be avoided in the new. Before the ruins had 
cooled, placards appeared. " Don't talk earth- 
quake, talk business." The first contract for a 
large building was signed within six days after the 
disaster. 

And to the faithfulness with which the San 
Franciscan carried out his determination, the San 
Francisco of today is a splendid monument. Men 
who had money poured it into the work of re- 
building. Laborers flocked into the city. Capi- 
talists and labor unionists joined hands to restore, 



The Growth of the Cities 373 

in such form that another earthquake would not 
find them unprepared, the great business centers 
of the city. In three years, almost every scar was 
gone. A new and greater city was where the old 
had stood. The re-building of San Francisco is 
unparalleled in the history of the world. 

And the city did not stop with restoration. She 
has continued to grow from that day to this and 
is apparently on the eve of an even greater de- 
velopment. Her eight miles of wharfage is be- 
ing extended and is to be further extended at an 
expense of $25,000,000, to accommodate the in- 
creased traffic which is expected from the growth 
of Oriental commerce and the opening of the 
Panama Canal. To commemorate this great 
event which promises so much for the future of 
the city which but seven years ago lay in ruins, 
San Francisco has invited the world to the 
Panama-Pacific Exposition to be held in 191 5. 
At that time thousands of those who predicted for 
San Francisco the fate of Pompeii will have an 
opportunity to see that in peoples as in men that 
which is impossible for old age can be done by 
the dynamic force of spirited youth. 



APPENDIX 

MISSIONS AND DATES OF FOUNDING 

July 1 6, 1769, San Diego de Alcala. 

June 3, 1770, San Carlos Borromeo de Monterey. 

July 14, 1 77 1, San Antonio de Padua. 

Sept. 8, 1 77 1, San Gabriel Arcangel. 

Sept. 1, 1772, San Luis Obispo de Tolosa 

Oct. 30, 1775, San Juan Capistrano. 

Oct. 9, 1776, San Francisco de Asis (or Dolores). 

Jan. 12, 1777, Santa Clara. 

Mar. 31, 1782, San Buenaventura. 

Dec. 4, 1786, Santa Barbara. 

Dec. 8, 1787, La Purisima Conception. 

Aug. 28, 1 79 1, Santa Cruz. 

Oct. 9, 1 79 1, La Soledad. 

June 11, 1797, San Jose. 

June 24, 1797, San Juan Bautista. 

July 25, 1797, San Miguel Arcangel. 

Sept. 8, 1797, San Fernando Rey de Esparia. 

June 13, 1798, San Luis Rey de Francia. 

Sept. 17, 1804, Santa Ines. 

Dec. 14, 181 7, San Rafael Arcangel. 

July 4, 1823, San Francisco Solano. 

MISSION PRESIDENTS 

July 14, 1767 — Aug. 28, 1784, Junipero Serra. 
Aug. 28, 1784 — Sept., 1785, Francisco Palou (Act- 
ing). 
375 



876 Appendix 

Sept., 1785 — June 26, 1803, Fermin Francisco de 

Lasuen. 
June 26, 1803 — Dec, 18 12, Estevan Tapis. 
Dec, 1 81 2 — Nov. 22, 1815, Jose Senan. 
Nov. 22, 181 5 — Apr. 1, 1820, Mariano Payeras. 
Apr. 1, 1820 — Aug. 24, 1823, Jose Senan, 
Aug. 24, 1823 — Apr., 1823, Francisco Vicente Sarria. 
Apr., 1825 — Sept., 1827, Narciso Duran. 
Sept., 1 827 — June, 1831, Jose Bernardo Sanchez. 
June, 1 83 1 — 1838, Narciso Duran. 

1838 — 1846, Joaquin Jimeiio. 

PREFECTS 

FERNANDINE 

July, 1 8 1 3 — Apr. 1 , 1 820, Francisco Vicente Sarria. 
Apr. 1, 1820 — Apr. 28, 1823, Mariano Payeras. 
Apr. 28, 1823 — Aug. 24, 1823, Jose Senan. 
Aug. 24, 1823 — 1 830, Francisco Vicente Sar- 

ria (Acting). 

1 830 — 1837, Office vacant. 

1 83 7 — June 1 , 1 846, Narciso Duran. 

ZACATECAN 

Jan. 15, 1833 — 1834, Francisco Garcia Diego. 

x 834 — Nov. 1838, Rafael Moreno. 
Nov., ,1838 — 1845, Jesus Gonzalez Rubio. 

Note : Many dates for the changes in these offices are 
missing, especially in the later years. 



Appendix 377 

GOVERNORS OF CALIFORNIA 

SPANISH 

July i , 1 769 — Mar., 1 770, Gaspar de Portola. 
Mar. 4, 1775, Felipe de Barri. 
July 12, 1782, Felipe de Neve. 
Apr. 16, 1790, Pedro Fages. 
Apr. 9, 1792, Jose Antonio Romeu. 
May 14, 1794, Jose Joaquin de Arrillaga 

(Acting). 
Nov. 16, 1804, Diego de Borica. 
July 24, 1 8 14, Jose Joaquin de Arrillaga. 
Mar. 3 1, 181 5, Jose Dario Arguello 

(Acting). 
Nov. 10, 1822, Pablo Vicente de Sola. 

MEXICAN 

Nov., 1825, Luis Antonio Arguello 
(Acting). 

Jan. 31, 1 83 1, Jose Maria Echeandia. 

Dec. 9, 1 83 1, Manuel Victoria. 

Jan. 15, 1833, North — Aguston V. 
Zamorano; South — 
Jose Maria Echeandia. 

Sept. 29, 1835, Jose Figueroa. 

Jan. 2, 1836, Jose Castro. 

May 3, 1836, Nicolas Gutierrez. 

Aug. 10, 1836, Mariano Chico. 

Nov. 5, 1836, Nicolas Gutierrez. 

Dec. 7, 1836, Jose Castro. 

Dec. 31, 1842, Juan Bautista Alvarado. 

Feb. 22, 1845, Manuel Micheltorena, 



378 Appendix 

July 7, 1846, Pio Pico. 

Jan. 11, 1847, Jose Maria Flores. 

Jan. 13, 1847, Andres Pico. 

UNITED STATES MILITARY 

July 7, 1846 — July 29, 1846, John D. Sloat. 

Jan. 19, 1847, Robert F. Stockton. 
Feb. 23, 1847, John Charles Fremont. 
May 31, 1847, Stephen W. Kearny. 
Feb. 26, 1849, Richard B. Mason. 
Apr. 12, 1849, Persifor F. Smith. 
Dec. 20, 1849, Bennet Riley. 

GOVERNORS OF THE STATE 

Dec. 20, 1849 — Jan. 9, 1851, Peter H. Burnett. D. 
Jan. 8, 1852, John McDougall. D. 
Jan. 9, 1856, John Bigler. D. 
Jan. 8, 1858, John Neely Johnson. 

Amer. 
Jan. 9, i860, John B. Weller. D. 
Jan. 14, i860, Milton G. Latham. D. 
Jan. 18, 1862, John G.Downey. D. 
Dec. 10, 1863, Leland Stanford. R. 
Dec. 5, 1867, Frederick F. Low. 

Union. 
Dec. 8, 1871, Henry H. Haight. D. 
Feb. 27, 1875, Newton Booth. R. 
Dec. 9, 1875, Romualdo Pacheco. R. 
Jan. 8, 1880, William Irwin. D. 
Jan. 10, 1883, George C.Perkins. R. 
Jan. 8, 1887, George Stoneman. D. 



Appendix 



379 



Jan. 3,i9ii 



Sept. 13, 1887, Washington Bartlett. D. 
Jan. 8, 1 89 1, Robert W. Waterman. R. 
Jan. 11, 1895, H. H. Markham. R. 
Jan. 4, 1899, James H- Bride. D. 
Jan. 7, 1903, Henry T. Gage. R. 
Jan. 9, 1907, George C. Pardee. R. 
Jan. 3, 191 1, James N. Gillett. R. 
Hiram Johnson. R. 



POPULATION OF STATE BY DECADES 



Year 
1780.. 
1790. . 
1800. . 
I8IO.. 
1820. . 
1830.. 
1840. . 
1850.. 
i860.. 
1870... 
1880.. 
1890. . 
1900. . 
1910. . 



San. Fr. Los Ang. Oakland San Die. Sacram. 



State 

600* 46 

970 140 

1,200 315 

2,130 365 

3,270 615 

4,250 300 I,000* 

6,ooot 280 1,800* 

92,579 34,ooo* x , 6l o 

379,994 56,802 4,399 

560,247 149,473 5,6i4 

864,694 233,959 11,183 

1,208,130 298,997 50,395 

1,485,053 342,782 102,479 

2,377,549 416,912 319,198 

* Estimated. 

t Estimated from figures for 1841. 



i,543 
10,500* 

34,555 

48,682 

66,960 

150,174 



73i 

2,300* 

2,637 

16,159 

17,700 

39,578 



6,820 

13,785 
16,283 
21,400 
26,386 
29,282 
44,696 



INDEX 



Aborigines, 1-16. 

Alarcon, Hernando de, ex- 
plorer, 20. 

Alta California, The, 285, 352. 

Alvarado, Juan Bautista, leads 
movement for independence, 
118; takes Monterey and es- 
tablishes himself as governor, 
119, 120; appointed gov- 
ernor, 122. 

Americans, coming of, 164-175. 

American Conquest, the, 189- 
208. 

Anza, Juan Bautista de, leads 
settlers to California, 55, 56. 

Arguello, Louis Antonio, gov- 
ernor, 85. 

Arrillaga, acting governor, 79; 
governor, 81. 

Barri, Felipe de, governor, 75. 

Beale, Lieutenant, secures aid 
for Kearny, 201, 202. 

Bear Flag Revolution, 182-184, 
186; its effects, 187. 

Bear Flag, described, 183 ; 
gives way to Stars and 
Stripes, 194; talk of re-rais- 
ing, 258. 



Bidwell, John, story of his par- 
ty's trip to California, 165- 
169. 

Bigler, Governor, attack on 
Chinese, 287, 289. 

Borica, Diego de, governor, 79 ; 
views of California, 80; re- 
signs, 8 1. 

Bouchard's raid, 82, 83. 

Broderick, Senator David C, 
killed in duel, 318. 

Brown, John, brings news of 
uprising, 196. 

Bulletin, The Daily, 251. 

Burlingame Treaty, 292, 293. 

Burnett, Peter H., helps form 
government, 236; governor, 
240. 

Cabrillo, arrival at San Diego 
Bay, 18; record of explora- 
tion, 1 8, 19; discoverer of 
California, 19, 20. 

California, in 1540, 1-16; dis- 
covery of, 18, 19; origin of 
the name, 23-26; coming of 
Franciscans, 29 ; occupation 
of three-fold kind, 29; first 
mission, 33 ; Spanish domin- 



381 



382 



Index 



ion begins, 33; trade re- 
strained, 71 ; part of dis- 
trict, 76; independent of 
Spain, 8 1 ; and constitution of 
1812, 83; changing of al- 
legiance, 84, 85; territory of 
Mexico, 85; penal colony for 
Mexico, 69, 112; hostile to 
Mexico, 117; new oath of 
allegiance to Mexico, 120; 
life of the people, 144-155; 
education before 1817, 151; 
interest in the United States 
in 1841, 164; dissensions in, 
177; efforts to purchase, 191; 
claimed for United States by 
Commodore Sloat, 194; pro- 
claimed free from Mexico 
and conquered by United 
States, 195; Southern, op- 
poses seizure by U. S. 197; 
permanently acquired by 
United States, 207; trouble 
over government, 208 ; re- 
sult of discovery of gold, 216- 
231; increase of population, 
232; admitted as a state, 
242; seal, 242; struggle for 
order in, 243-257; and civil 
war, 258-267; plots to take 
out of Union, 258, 262; loyal 
support of Union, 263-267; 
barriers between, and East, 
268; railroads 268-282; 
Chinese, 283-296; commer- 
cial depression, 297; Kearney 
and Kearneyism, 299-305 ; 
constitution of 1879, 306-317; 
political history since 1879, 



318-332; natural resources 
and development, 333-344; 
social progress, 345-354J 
growth of the cities, 355-373. 

" California Republic," planned 
by Ide, 182. 

Californians, life of under 
Spanish and Mexican reg- 
imes, 147-155; capture 
Americans, 196; defeat 
United States marines at San 
Pedro, 198 ; win battle at 
San Pascual, 200, 201. 

Californian, The, the first 
newspaper, 352. 

California Star, The, 234, 352. 

Call, The, 300. 

Carillo, Carlos, governor, 116, 
121. 

Carlos III, of Spain, 39. 

Carson, Kit, sent to Washing- 
ten, 195, 199; secures aid 
for Kearny, 201, 202. 

Castro, Manuel, leads rebel- 
lion, 127, 128 ; prefect, 179 ; 
and Fremont's visit, 179, 
180; and American settlers, 
186, 187. 

Cattle raising, 339, 340. 

Central Pacific railroad, 275, 
277; joined to Union Pacific, 
278. 

Chinese, the, 283-296; value to 
state, 284, 285; persecuted 
286; "Coolie," meaning, 
289; massacre at Los An- 
geles, 294; and Kearneyism, 
298, 302; and constitution of 



Index 



3& 



1879, 308, 315, 320; under 
Geary act, 321-323 ; at Sacra- 
mento, 357. 

Chronicle, The, 300. 

Cities, growth and description, 

355-373- 

Civil War, the, 258-267. 

Cody, W. F., "Buffalo Bill," 
and Pony Express, 270. 

Coleman, William T., organ- 
izes vigilance committees, 
249, 252, 253. 

Commerce, 343, 344; negligible 
factor in early years, 154. 

Constitution of 1849, pro- 
claimed, 239; of 1879, 306- 

317, 3*9- 
Coronado Islands, 23. 
Cortes, sends Cabrillo north, 

18. 
Credit Mobilier, 276. 
Crime, 243-247, 318. 
Crocker, Charles, and railroads, 

273- 

Death Valley, experiences of 
Manly party, 220, 222. 

Diaz, Melchior, explorer, 20. 

Digger Indians, 2. 

Dominican order, given charge 
of Lower California Mis- 
sions, 53 ; and Pious Fund, 
58. 

Donner Party story, 169-174. 

Dorr, Captain Ebenezer, visits 
Monterey, 145. 

Drake, Francis, explorer, 21. 

Durant, Rev. Henry, college 
founder, 349. 



Earthquake and fire of 1906, 

369-373- 

Echeandia, Governor, 113; 
leads revolt, 115; governor 
in south, 115; and seculari- 
zation, 136. 

Education, universities and col- 
leges, 349-3 5*- 

Explorations, early, 17. 

Fages, Lieutenant, antago- 
nism with Serra, 51, 52, 53 ; 
as governor suggests penal 
colony, 69 ; commandant, 
75; governor, 78. 

Fallon, Captain Thomas, 
seizes San Jose, 194. 

Fernando VII, 83. 

Ferrelo, Bartolome, explorer, 
20. 

Fillmore, President, 242. 

Fires, Sacramento, 357, San 
Francisco, 365-370. 

Flores, Jose Maria, governor, 
opposes American conquest, 
197. 

Forbes, early historian, com- 
ment on California, 176. 

Forty-nine, 216-231. 

Franciscans, founding of the 
order, and work, 28 ; occupy 
California, 29 ; give up 
Lower California Missions, 
53 ; and Pious Fund, 58 ; 
treatment of Indians, 95-98 ; 
and securalization, 130. 

Fremont, John Charles, 176- 
188; leads company of ex- 
plorers into California, 178; 



384 



Index 



raises American flag, 180; 
assumes head of Bear Flag 
movement, 184; and aids in 
conquest of California, 194; 
appointed military com- 
mander of California, 195; 
civil governor, 195 ; receives 
surrender of Pico, 202; in 
quarrel over governorship, 
204; court martialed, 205; 
returns to California, 205 ; 
chosen senator, 240. 

Friars, trouble with soldiers, 
52; salaries, 58; character, 
95-96; oppose pueblos, 71; 
oppose ranches, 73 ; work in 
the missions, 87-102 ; Spanish, 
expelled from Mexico, 136; 
recruits in 1833, 138. 

Fruits, 337, 338; oranges and 
lemons, 338, 339. 

Galvez, Jose de, Visitador of 
Mexico, 29. 

Geary, John W., first post- 
master, 269. 

Geary Act regarding Chinese, 
321-323. 

Gillespie, Archibald, Lieuten- 
ant, messenger to Fremont, 
181, 185; besieged at Los 
Angeles, 197. 

Gold, discovery of, 209-215; 
results to California and the 
world, 216-231; and crim- 
inals, 248; California's and 
the Union, 266; and Chin- 
ese, 283 ; effect of discov- 



eries in Australia, 288; pro- 
duction, 340. 

Government, establishment of, 
after 1847, 232-242; consti- 
tution of 1849 proclaimed, 
239; legislature, 240; weak- 
ness of, 243, 244, 246; for 
the Union, 260; and the 
Chinese, 287; constitution of 
1879, 306-317; under con- 
stitution of 1879, 310-316. 

" Graham Affair," 124, 125. 

Grain and Cereals, 336. 

Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty, 
and end of war, 207. 

Gwin, William, member con- 
stitutional convention, 238 ; 
and slavery, 238 ; chosen 
senator, 240. 

Hancock, Winfield Scott, raises 
Stars and Stripes at Los An- 
geles, 263. 

Hartnell, W. E. P., mission in- 
spector, 140; arrival, 164. 

Hopkins, Mark, and railroads, 

273- 
Huntington, Collis P., and rail- 
roads, 273, 274. 

Ide, William B., leads Bear 
Flag revolution, 182, 183; 
deposed, 184. 

Immigration, of the forties, 
163 ; coming of Americans, 
164-175 ; due to discovery of 
gold, 216-231; chiefly Ameri- 
cans, 345. 

Indians, aboriginal, 1-16; un- 



Index 



385 



der the missions, 49, 50, 87- 
102; destroy San Diego Mis- 
sion, 54, 55; baptized, 59; 
confirmed by Serra, 77; life 
in the missions, 92, 93 ; 
schools, 94; work, 94; treat- 
ment of, 95-99; hostility of, 
SOf 54. 99; revolt, 100; 
death rate, 131; condition of, 
in 1810, 131; in 1826, 135; 
relapse, 140. 

Irrigation, 335, 336. 

Iturbide, proclaims independ- 
ence of Mexico, 84; pro- 
claimed emperor, 84. 

Jackson, Helen Hunt, Ramona, 

353. 

Japanese, 296, 323. 

Jesuits, opposed in Europe, 28. 

Johnson, Hiram W., elected 
governor, 328. 

Jones, Commodore, raises 
American flag at Monterey, 
125, 191. 

Judah, Theodore D. and rail- 
road, 273, 274. 

Kearny, General Stephen W., 
enters California, 199; battle 
of San Pascual, 200, 201 ; 
quarrel with Stockton, 203- 
205 ; governor of California, 
205. 

Kearney and Kearneyism, 299- 
305; 307. 

King, Thomas Butler, 236. 

King, Thomas Starr, and loy- 
alty, 261. 



King of William, James, edi- 
tor, reformer, assassinated, 
251-253. 

Knights of the Golden Circle, 
261. 

Kotzebue, 72. 

LaPerouse, opinion of missions, 
97; at Monterey, 145. 

Larkin, Thomas O., consul, 
185; tribute to, 188; ini 
structed to secure California 
for United States, 192; con- 
stitutional convention, 237. 

La Soledad, mission, present 
condition, 141. 

Las Sergas de Esplandian, 24, 
25. 

Lasuen, Fermin Francisco, suc- 
ceeds Serra, 57; founds mis- 
sions, 80. 

Latham, governor, and slavery, 
259. 

Legislature, temporary of San 
Francisco, 234; new of 1849, 
240; pro-slavery of 1859, 
258; anti-slavery of i860, 
260; anti-Chinese, 287; calls 
for constitutional convention, 
305 ; creates code commis- 
sion, 306; duties under con- 
stitution of 1879, 314, 315; 
character of, in first thirty 
years, of state, 318; of 1879, 
320; of 1909, 328; of 1911, 
328-331. 

Lewis and Clark expedition, 
190. 



386 



Index 



Lincoln, Abraham, President, 

California supports, 260, 266. 

Lincoln-Roosevelt League, 326, 

328, 331, 332- 

L09 Angeles, first visited, and 
named, 34; pueblo, 65, 68; 
school established, 72; made 
capital, 117; opposes Al- 
vardo, 119, 121 ; again capi- 
tal, 128; seized for United 
States, 195 ; center of revolt, 
196; recaptured, 202; Stars 
and Stripes raised by Han- 
cock, 263 ; massacre of Chin- 
ese, 294; and the recall, 327; 
economic policies, 346; la- 
bor troubles, 347; and uni- 
versity, 350; and population, 
355 J growth and descrip^ 
tion, 359-362. 

Los Angeles Times, The, dy- 
namited, 347. 

" Machine," in politics, 324- 

328. 
Mail Service, inadequate, 269, 

the Pacific Mail, 269 ; the 

California Star route, 270. 
Manly party, experiences on 

trip to gold fields, 219-222. 
Manufactures, 342. 
Marshall, James W., discovers! 

gold at Sutter's mill, 209, 

210; after life, 214. 
Mason, Colonel, governor of 

California, 205, 211, 234. 
Mervine, Captain, defeat at 

San Pedro, 198. 
Metals, 340. 



Mexico, under Cortes, 18 ; early 
progress, 27; makes Cali- 
fornia a penal colony, 69, 
112; becomes independent, 
81; constitution of 1812, 83; 
war with United States, 193; 
armistice with United States, 
207; end of war, 207; re- 
gime in California, 111-129; 
constitutional laws of 1836, 
120; opposes entrance of for- 
eigners to California, 123- 
162, 169; transfers Cali- 
fornia to United States per- 
manently, 207. 

Micheltorena, Manuel, gov- 
ernor, 126, 127. 

Missions, first one founded, 33 ; 
ceremonies at founding, 48, 
49; extension of system, 51; 
numbers, 57, 58; wealth, 59; 
supply civil forces, 81, 82; 
mission system described, 87- 
102 ; equipment, 88 ; build- 
ings, plans and construction, 
90-92; every day life, 92, 
93 ; failure of, 101 ; achieve- 
ments, 101 ; secularization, 
112, 130-143; property de- 
stroyed, 139; effect of secu- 
larization, 139; death of sys- 
tem, 141; present condition 
of buildings, 141, 142. 

Moncada, Rivera y., com- 
mander in occupation of 
California, 31; succeeds 
Fages, 53, 75. 

Monroe Doctrine, effect on 
Europe, 190. 



Index 



387 



Montalvo, Ordonez de, author 
of Las Sergas de Esplandian, 
24. 

Monterey, visited by Cabrillo, 
19; by Vizcaino, 23; by Por- 
tola, 34, 35, 38; presidio, 
62, 63 ; capital of two prov- 
inces, 76; pueblo, m; loses 
capital to San Diego, 113; 
taken by Alvarado, 118; re- 
tains prominence, 147; early 
schools, 151; visited by Fre- 
mont, 179; captured, 184; 
taken by Commodore Sloat^ 
194; constitutional conven- 
tion, 235-239. 

Montgomery, Captain, seizes 
San Francisco, 194. 

Mormon battalion, enters Cali- 
fornia, 205, 206. 

Natural resources, 333-344. 
Neve, Felipe de, governor, 76, 

77; and Serra, 77; promoted, 

78. 
"New Helvetia," 159. 
New York Volunteers, arrive 

in California, 206, 207. 

Oil, 341. 

Pacific Railroads, 268-282; fin- 
ished, 278 ; celebration, 279. 

Palou, Friar, at San Francisco, 
56; acts as Father-President, 

57. 
Panama-California Exposition 
at San Diego, 359. 



Panama-Pacific Exposition, 

373- 
Perez, Juan, explorer, 27, 32. 
Perkins, George C, governor, 

319. 

Philip III, King of Spain, 22, 
23. 

Pico, Captain Andres, com- 
mands revolt vs. United 
States, and wins at San Pas- 
cual, 200; surrenders to Fre- 
mont, 202. 

Pico, Pio, governor, 128 ; at- 
tempt to regain governor- 
ship, 207; member consti- 
tutional convention, 237. 

Pious Fund, 58, 59, 138; dis- 
position of, 142, 143. 

Pony Express, 270, 271. 

Population, 307. 

Portola, Gaspar de, leads oc- 
cupation of California, 29, 
32; goes north, 33; end of 
governorship, 75. 

Presidio, one of forms of oc- 
cupation of California, 29; 
trouble with missions, 51; 
character and history, 60-64. 

Prices of goods in 1788, 155; 
in 1849, 225. 

Pueblo, one of forms of occu- 
pation of California, 29; 
character and history, 65-74; 
failure of, 70. 

Railroads, the Pacific, 268-282; 
completed, 278, 279; other 
roads, 279, 280, 281 ; laws re- 
garding, 314, 330; transcon- 



388 



Index 



tinental number five, 344; 
and Los Angeles, 360. 

Religion, present condition, 349. 

Rezanof, Count, in Alaska and 
California, 103, 104. 

Riley, Bennett, governor, calls 
constitutional convention, 

235 ; proclaims new consti- 
tution, 239. 

Romeu, Jose Antonio, governor, 

79- 

Ross, Fort, 105, 106, 108-110. 

Russians, in Alaska, 103, Cali- 
fornia, 105, 107, 108-110, 
189. 

Sacramento, chosen as capital, 
241 ; railroad convention, 
273 ; and constitution of 
1879, 307; government fixed 
at, 316; and population, 355; 
story of, 356-358. 

Sargent, Aaron A., and rail- 
roads, 274. 

Sarria, prefect, 85; suppresses 
Bible, 152. 

San Antonio de Padua Mis- 
sion, 51. 

San Antonio de Pala Mission, 
58. 

San Buenaventura Mission, 57. 

San Carles Borromeo de Mon- 
terey Mission, 39. 

San Diego, first occupied^ 31 ; 
presidio, 62, 64; and labor 
agitation, 347 ; and popula- 
tion, 355; growth and de- 
scription, 358, 359; Panama- 
California Exposition, 359. 



San Diego Mission founded, 
33; trouble with Indians, 
50; destroyed, 54; made 
capital by Echeandia, 113, 
present condition, 142. 

San Francisco, bay, 20, 21 ; 
discovered by Portola's men, 
35; presidio established, 56, 
62; Fort San Joaquin, 64; 
pueblo, 111; as a whaling 
port, 190; taken by Captain 
Montgomery, 194; effect of 
discovery of gold, 212, 213, 
230; starts temporary gov- 
ernment, 234; storm center 
of crime, 247-256; and first 
telegraph, 270; railroad con- 
vention, 272, 273 ; anti-Chin- 
ese agitation, 292; Kearney- 
ism, 298-303 ; Schmitz-Ruef 
regime, 325, 326; and popu- 
lation, 355; growth and de- 
scription, 363-373 ; first great 
fires, 365-370; earthquake 
and fire of 1906, 369-373; 
Panama-Pacific Exposition, 

373- 

San Francisco Mission, 56. 

San Francisco Solano Mission, 
58, 108. 

San Gabriel Mission, 51 ; pres- 
ent condition, 142. 

San Jose, convention for form- 
ing government, 234; first 
legislature meets, 240. 

San Juan Capistrano Mission, 
54; destroyed by earthquake, 
99, 100; present condition, 
142. 



Index 



389 



San Luis Obispo de Tolosa 
Mission, 52. 

San Pedro, growth and de- 
scription, 362, 363. 

San Pascual, battle of, 200, 
201. 

San Rafael Mission, 108 ; pres- 
ent condition, 141. 

Santa Barbara Channel, In- 
dians, 3, 13, 15; islands and 
Cabrillo, 19. 

Santa Barbara Mission, pres- 
ent condition, 142. 

Santa Barbara presidio, 62; 
pueblo, in. 

Santa Clara Mission, 57; pres- 
ent condition, 141. 

Santa Cruz, pueblo founded, 
68 ; present condition, 141. 

Santa Inez Mission and In- 
dian revolt, 100. 

Santa Margarita Mission, 58. 

Santa Ysabel Mission, 58. 

Schmitz-Ruef, regime, 325, 
326. 

Schools, 312. 

Serra, Junipero, enters Cali- 
fornia as Father-President of 
Franciscans, 29, 30; founds 
first mission, 33 ; opposes re- 
turn to Mexico, 37; biog- 
raphy, 40-47; extends mis- 
sion system, 51 ; visits 
Mexico, 52; acts as bishop, 
77; death, 57. 

Shaler, Captain William, opin- 
ion of California, 190. 

Slavery, effect of question on 
California, 233, 238, 241 ; 



pro-legislature of 1859, 258; 
and governor Latham, 259; 
anti-legislature of i860, 260; 
effect on railroads, 272. 

Sloat, Commodore John D., 
raises flag at Monterey and 
proclaims conquest by United 
States, 194. 

Smith Persifor, General, 236. 

Social progress, 345"354- 

Sola, Pablo Vicente de, gov- 
ernor, 82. 

Solis, Joaquin, heads criminal 
revolt, 113. 

Southern Pacific railroad, 280; 
and "Machine," 324; and 
Los Angeles, 360. 

Spain, loss of power, 81 ; loses 
Mexico and California, 81, 
85. 

Spanish Period, 75-86. 

Stanford, Leland,; elected gov- 
ernor, 260; and railroads, 
273 ; senator, 282 ; founds 
university, 350. 

Steamship lines, 344. 

Stockton, Commodore, succeeds 
Sloat, and carries on con- 
quest of California, 194; pro- 
claims California free from 
Mexico and conquered by 
United States, 195 ; in South- 
ern California, 198 ; recap- 
tures Los Angeles, 202; 
quarrel with Kearny, 203- 
205. 

Struggle for order, 243-257. 

Suffrage, woman's adopted, 
330. 



390 



Index 



Sutter, Captain John A., 156- 
163 ; arrival at Monterey, 
156; established in Sacra- 
mento Valley, 157; plans, 
161 ; and discovery of gold, 
209-215; constitutional con- 
vention, 237; candidate for 
governor, 240; and agricul- 
ture, 334. 

Sutter's Fort, 159; Fremont's 
description of, 160; wel- 
comes immigrants, 162; vis- 
ited by Fremont, 179; goal 
of gold seekers, 223. 

Telegraph, the first, 270. 
Terry, Judge David S., 256, 
318. 

Union Pacific railroad, organ- 
ized, 273 ; and national law, 
274-277; joined to Central 
Pacific, 278. 

United States, tries to purchase 
California, 191 ; struggle in 
Congress over acquisition, 
192 ; declaration of war with 
Mexico, 193 ; armstice with 
Mexico, 207; acquires Cali- 
fornia permanently, 207 ; 
treaty with China, 320. 

Universities, 349, 350. 



Vallejo, Guadalupe, establishes 
garrison and colony in So- 
noma, 116; assists movement 
for independence, 118; opin- 
ion of Early California life, 
155; welcomes immigrants, 
163 ; arrested and impris- 
oned, 182; at constitutional 
convention, 237. 
Vancouver, 63 ; opinions of 
Missions, 97; visits to Cali- 
fornia, 145. 

Victoria, Manuel, governor, 
succeeds Echeandia, 114. 

Vigilance Committee, first or- 
ganized, 249; its work, 249- 
251; second committee and 
work, 252-254; opinion of 
J. D. Farrell, 255. 

Vilas, Vicente, commander in 
occupation of California, 31. 

Vizcaino, Don Sebastian, ex- 
plorer, 22, 23. 

Workingmen's Party, 301, 304, 
308. 

Works, John D., elected sena- 
tor, 329. 

Wrangell, at Sausalito, 107. 

Zamorano, Augustin, V., Gov- 
ernor in north, 115. 



JUL 28 1913 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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